Chronicles of the Elusive Angel 7: Friendship
by Kenjaje
Summary: Stitch begins to wonder about the strange "shocks" 600 has told him of. However, he won't have much time to think; Phase catches his suspicious attentions, and for good reason.
1. Hypothesis

Chronicles of the Elusive Angel:

Friendship (Volume 7)

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 1: Hypothesis

Morning trickled through the windows. The viscous light slowly crept into the room, seeping down the walls and oozing over a sleeping Stitch. Underneath their lids, his eyes twitched as they saw the bright blue gleam of his translucent skin, desperate to grasp his mind's attention, pleading for him to roll over.

But it was too late; the warm beam of sunlight was already working to wake him up, dissolving the murky fog of sleep. His eyes were right though—it was far too bright. He moved the covers that loosely lay upon his leg over his head, and opened his eyes to the softer, more tolerable lighting.

His jaw dropped into a yawn; strings of spit that reeked with morning breath escaped his mouth and fell onto the bed. He didn't bother to smear the thick puddles of drool to dry them; instead he sat upright on his knees and covered the area with the sheets, pretending the saliva wasn't there.

The light was much less bright, now that his eyes were used to it, but it made him yawn again, and then it tickled his nose, making him sneeze. He glanced around to make sure he didn't disturb the other two occupants of the room.

Lilo wasn't bothered; she remained sleeping, facing away from him with her hair racing across her pillow in a million different directions. Angel, however, he didn't find in her bed. He figured she had already woken up, and was probably making breakfast, but then he saw her on the floor, lying on her back. He remembered faintly about waking up for only a few seconds when his sleep was disturbed by an odd _thump_ that he thought he heard. His proof of the noise lay before him, still sleeping, and occasionally twitching an ear.

He wasn't surprised she didn't wake up from her fall. They were all so tired, drained of energy. The excitement and enthusiasm they had put into the performance did a number on their endurance. It tired him enough to make him fall asleep without dreaming.

He could still hear the crowd cheering en masse and the blaring of the music; could feel the rumble of the stage as Richter beat the life out of his drums and as the performers pounded against the stage floor with their feet; could still remember how amazing it was to pull of a such performance with such quick practice. The pads of his fingers were still very coarse from cutting loose on the guitar—it was a lot more work when he couldn't use his other two arms to help.

He was tired, but he was far too awake now. Rolling out of his bed and slinking to the ground, he quietly stepped across the room to the elevator pad, and let it take him down. Lilo and Angel could have all the time they wanted to wake up; he wasn't in any hurry to do anything productive yet. A feint smell of cinnamon met him as the elevator came to a jerky stop. Chances were Nani went to work already, and he was catching the remnants of her morning activity.

Stitch wandered to the bathroom, a little more awake, and stepped up to the sink, looking at himself in the mirror. He inspected his tongue, his teeth, his eyes, then his ears, and finally flattened the ruffle on his head, which aggressively stood back up. After a couple more attempts, he gave up on the recalcitrant cowlick and went back out into the hall, where he leaned against the wall, thinking.

_"I wonder what we're going to do today. Hopefully something that won't require much activity…maybe if Jumba fixed his computer we can go looking for 600 again." _600. Remembering the experiment triggered a recollection of images from days ago. By chance she and he were held in the transport chamber on Gantu's ship. But before that it was foggy—there was a black gap between then, and earlier on when she ran into Angel near the shack.

He tried to remember more, but that was all there was. The next thing he knew, he woke up to her relieved voice. His blurry vision, immobility, and that feeling of incredible fatigue, were still vivid in his mind. She said that he had gone into some kind of "shock", and was mumbling something over and over.

_"Pasha…Lilo…" _His own voice dully spoke in his mind. They sent shivers down his back, and made his hair stand on end a little bit. He remembered saying that, a long while ago, while he was being taken over by those robots that were injected into him. But why would he say those words if he was in shock? Why was he even saying them at all?

Maybe there was some kind of connection—a subconscious link between those words and that strange state he was in. 600 said that he must have been thrown into it because of the fall, but he'd taken falls before and they didn't affect him—one being the fall he took off the roof, so high that he made a crater in the ground. It definitely _wasn't _caused by a fall.

A loud slam made him jump up onto the ceiling with a startle. Jumba's voice grumbled loudly from behind the closed door to his room. Stitch let himself down to the floor, and scurried over, pausing as he knocked at the door.

_"A subconscious connection. Maybe a complete scan will find any anomalies in me. There might not be any robots, but I have a feeling they've got something to do with me being in 'shock'."_

"Pleakley?" Jumba asked sharply at the knock. "That had better be you!"

"Uh…naga. Miga Stitch." He said through the door. "Can Stitch come in?"

"Well, yes, but must be moving some things out of way of door." Stitch heard him say back. There was a moment of clutter, fumbling of objects, and thumping of heavy weight being set onto the ground. Stitch tapped his foot as he waited, until finally the door abruptly swung open. "Aheh, am sorry, but am making big messes by looking for something."

"Egdaba." Stitch told him, stepping in. "Gaba ju scavoo-ga?" He asked curiously.

"Am trying to find genius invention for tonight's Science Academy meeting. Unfortunately, Pleakley decided to do some 'cleaning up' and now am stuck looking for it." Jumba said with a growl as he threw down an object he picked up off the counter into a pile of junk that looked oddly familiar to Stitch. "And what brings you here, my friend?" He asked, changing his mood.

"Um…kagaba chi-jooma ja?"

"Why? Robots no longer in system, of this Jumba is certain."

"Not for robots…something else." Stitch said, not sure how to explain.

"By all means you can have another scan, but," Jumba leaned over and put a hand under Stitch's chin, inspecting him, "are looking fine to me."

"Not body, shooka-shooka." He said, pointing at his forehead.

"A _cerebral _examination?" Jumba said raising an eyebrow. "You think you're getting funny in the brains or what?" He questioned, rotating a finger in a circle by his head.

"Nagga-nagga." Stitch said, throwing his arms into the air with frustration. "Stitch wants scan because Stitch had strange shock." He explained.

"A strange…shock?" Jumba repeated slowly, rubbing his chin.

"Eh." Stitch confirmed. Jumba's mind began recalling every detail about a certain incident when Lilo brought Stitch into his room.

"When did this happen?"

"When Stitch captured by Gantu." He replied. There was a click of logic in Jumba's thoughts.

"Strange…" He said aloud. "Tell me, would this 'shock' include such symptoms as…quick breathing? Increased pulse? Rapid temperature spike perhaps?" He inquired. Stitch gazed up at him, a little awestruck.

"Baga-ju?" He asked with a bit of an attitude, like Jumba had kept a secret from him.

"Well, it's just that," Jumba began, walking to the window and scratching his chin, "little girl brought 626 in here not long ago—just before your little switch, in fact—saying that you two were going to beach, and that Gantu showed up. A moment later, she explained, you began to act very peculiarly. She described those symptoms to me, and I have actually been wondering," He turned to face Stitch again, "what caused you to go into such a state." Stitch pursed his lips as if trying to think of an answer for him.

"Naga nota." He said, to interrupt the moment's silence.

"I think I might have an idea—there is a consistency with both your incidences…but let us save that for later; do not want to be jumping to conclusion. We will do scan as requested, be following me outside." He beckoned, walking out the door.

Stitch did as he was told, and followed the scientist out of his room, down the hall and the stairs, around the kitchen, and out the back door where the path to his ship could be found. All the while, until they arrived at the large, red vessel, Stitch pondered over what the "consistency" was that Jumba spoke of. Jumba paused at the ship, took out a remote control from his back pocket, and pushed a button. Two high-pitched beeps sounded, and the door to the ship opened with a whoosh.

"After you." Jumba said. Stitch climbed up the ramp into the body of the whale and stopped to hear further instructions. Jumba slowly strode in, much too slow for Stitch's patience, and closed the hatch behind him. He then proceeded to the rear section of the ship, past the passenger seats. Stitch followed eagerly, jumping atop the seats behind the scientist's pace.

There was a small door to the right behind all of the seats, which Jumba opened and proceeded through. Inside, Stitch observed that it was somewhat of an on-board medical station; a small bed was bolted into the floor; beside it, a wall full of instruments and gadgets, and on the other side, tucked neatly against the wall and out-of-place with the other surroundings, was a bedside table with a lamp and a small stack of books on top of it.

"Be getting comfortable, scan could take while." Jumba warned casually, retrieving a few suction-receptors. Stitch climbed onto the bed, which was barely big enough for him, and closed his eyes as Jumba attached the receptors to his scalp, neck, and chest. "Normally would be letting you read text, but in this scanning case…must run a few tests." Jumba said, holding a pair of what looked like virtual-reality goggles that Stitch saw at an arcade once.

Stitch allowed Jumba to fit them on without any fuss at all—he was a little excited and curious as to what they were for in this scan. His eyes were blinded by the darkness; there wasn't even a tiny seam of light where the goggles rested on his cheek. He heard Jumba's voice again.

"Try not to be falling asleep. Will be back in forty-five minutes to an hour. Goggles are also built-in satellite-enhanced television, if you'd like to occupy your time. The switch is on the right side." Jumba turned on a few of the machines, and quietly stepped out of the door. He scratched his chin, leaning against it after he closed it noiselessly, and whispered to himself. "Am sorry, but am needing to be doing this. Are hoping you understand—it may help you." He walked to the back of the ship, where another door was located, and opened it.

In the room were two rows of filing cabinets against the far wall. He proceeded to the nearest one and pulled it open, sifting through the folders that were inside until he found one that would be adequate. He lifted it out, and pulled from inside a small CD. He then turned to the opposite wall, which contained the rears of some of the machines that were connected to Stitch in the adjacent room implanted in it. He went to the machine that was connected with the goggles, and put the disk in the tray.

"Now we will see if my hypothesis is being correct." He said, as he slowly pushed the button that activated the visual on the CD.


	2. French Toast

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 2: French Toast

Up in the high bedroom, another performer stirred; this time Angel. Her eyes winked on and her mind started to spin, and when she sat up, the blood that had settled in the back of her head splashed down her neck, making her squint as the spots in her eyes blinded her. The static quickly faded, and her vision was back again in a matter of seconds.

She looked at her surroundings, noticeably different from what they should have been. For one thing the perspective was much lower than what she was used waking up to. She looked up and chuckled a little bit, knowing what probably happened. She took a dive off the bed and didn't even wake up until just now. She hadn't had a good sleep like that in quite a while.

Taking things a bit more slowly, she popped the kinks out of her back, neck, legs, arms and fingers, and then stretched, lying on her back again, until she felt limber and awake. She stood, a little wobbly, and checked the clock. It was half past eight, and Stitch, she noticed, was up, absent from his bed. Lilo, however, was still present, and probably in a deep sleep as well, Angel thought. She debated momentarily on whether or not to start breakfast and then wake her, or vise-versa. But, she couldn't decide whether to make French toast or omelets, and didn't want to surprise Lilo with something she might not like.

"…Huh?" Came Lilo's mumble, among other undistinguishable bubbles of noise, as Angel shook her to a low level of alertness.

"_French toast or…_"

"Yeah, that's fine, whatever." She said airily, not even listening.

"_All right then, Stitch it is_!" Angel said cheerfully, knowing Lilo was still more asleep than awake. "_How do you want him: rare, medium, well-done, or deep-fried_?" Lilo's left eye blinked open, Angel's words catching her attention.

"…Wait a minute, _what_?" She asked, not sure of what she thought she heard.

"_Good, we're awake._" Angel said with a giggle. "_Do you want an omelet or French toast_?" Lilo looked at her, her mouth slightly open with confusion, but she dropped it and picked an option.

"Whatever Stitch wants." She said, closing her eyes and falling back asleep. Angel's lips angled to the side.

"_Alright, deep-fried it is then._" Lilo's eyes flipped open again.

"…Ok are we talking about breakfast or something else here?" She asked, realizing Angel was tricking her somehow.

"_I dunno. You were asleep; I wasn't paying attention._" Angel said innocently, stifling her giggle. Lilo sat up, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, I'm awake." She said flatly. "Now stop playing around. What did you ask?"

"_Perk up, I'm only joking._" Angel said cheerfully. Lilo folded her arms. "_Ok…not in the mood then._" She cleared her throat. "_I asked what breakfast you wanted—for the third time—omelet or French toast_?"

"Ugh…toast. To be honest, if I have another egg-breakfast anytime soon I'm going to run away to the farm." She commented, lifting aside the covers and proceeding to the elevator with Angel. "Where's Stitch?" She asked, noticing that he wasn't in his bed while the floor rose to her eyes' level.

"_Don't know; he wasn't here when I woke up._" Angel told her, as their floor came.

"Well then, we'd better watch out. He might try to get back at us for that trick we pulled on him last week." Lilo warned.

"_Hmm…good idea. I'll watch our back, you take the lead._"

"Right." Lilo whispered, beginning her walk down the hall. Angel started a few seconds after, and kept an eye out behind them as they made their way. When they passed the doors, Lilo opened them, scanned the room, and then left them for Angel to shut. Upon reaching the stairs, they both stopped.

"_See anything_?" Angel asked, while Lilo peeked her head around the corner, staring down into the living room, and a little into the kitchen.

"All clear from what I can see…but then again he could be hiding next to the railing."

"_Good thinking. I'll take it from here, cover our rear._" Lilo nodded and scanned the hallway behind them. Angel slinked up the wall, adhered to the ceiling, and then began to crawl toward the stairway, to get a good angle at the opposite side of the railing. From floor to ceiling it was clear, along with the living room and—from what she could see—the kitchen. "_Yup, all clear-_" Just as Angel spoke, there came a knocking at the door. Both froze for a moment, merely waiting for it to happen again. It did, after a pause, and Angel dropped.

"You think it's him?"

"_Might be._"

"Should we open it?"

"_Yeah, but be ready to jump out of the way._"

"Right." A third knock came. "Coming!" Lilo shouted, running to the door and twisting the knob. Angel flattened against the wall, out of sight of whoever might be on the other side. She nodded her head, and Lilo opened the door. "Hello?" There was no one there. "…Hello?" She asked again, stepping outside a little bit. Angel looked out as well, confused and baffled. From behind her though, she felt something tap her shoulder. She turned with instantaneous reflex, but saw nothing—only heard a slight _pop_ noise. "What's wrong?"

"_…I thought I heard some-_" Angel turned to look at Lilo, and then saw a figure standing behind her, but before she spoke it disappeared. "_Lilo! Watch out!_" Lilo turned to see what Angel was so upset about, but saw nothing—just heard a slight _pop_ noise.

"Are you feeling…all right, Angel?" Lilo asked, very worriedly. Angel squinted her eyebrows.

"_I'm fine…there…was someone behind you…I think…_" Angel scratched her head, beginning to wonder if Lilo was right about her. Perhaps she was still halfway asleep—still dreaming? "_But wait…you heard that _pop _didn't you_?"

"…Yeah. It sounded like bubble-wrap." She replied frankly. "Maybe someone's just downstairs outside popping-" There was a slight startled scream in the air, coming from above Lilo and Angels' heads. Instinctively and alertly they looked up; Lilo caught a glimpse of a green mass as it fell right on her, slamming her to the ground. Angel immediately grabbed the mass, and held its hands behind its back so it couldn't escape as Lilo crawled out from underneath. After the commotion subsided, and their nerves settled, Lilo and Angel realized who their company was.

"600?" They both asked with surprise, as she blinked awkwardly toward Lilo.

"Soka." She said with an apologetic laugh. "_I didn't mean to go so high up—mind letting me go_?" She asked at Angel. Angel looked down at her hands, tightly gripped around 600's wrists, and immediately broke away with such exaggeration she almost tripped backward. "Chibito." She thanked.

"Was it _you _that knocked at the door?" Lilo asked.

"_Yeah…sorry. I didn't mean to disappear on you like that, but I thought I had the wrong place ya see…and then my calibration got out of hand…_" Both Lilo and Angel continued to gaze. "_…What_?_ Am I…interrupting something_?"

"_No…I think what we're trying to figure out is if you're meaning 'disappear' literally or…_" 600 clasped her stomach and fell over, the organ growling painfully. Angel tilted her ears. "_I'm…making French toast…_" She said, looking at 600 and pointing her thumb toward the kitchen, not sure whether she wanted help getting up or if she could help herself.

Jumba blinked as the machine that his eyes were fixated on changed. The bar on the screen was getting slower and steadier now, a sign that the state was wearing off, and Stitch was relaxing. He sighed, deeply concerned, as he checked the history of the machine. This was no laughing matter—Stitch's pulse had escalated to a very dangerous point. The stress of it could have caused him to shut down temporarily.

He only wished he could tell Stitch he was fine, but then he would be lying. He had no way of knowing what started this, but he did know the cause—Gantu. He flipped a switch, turning off the goggles over Stitch's eyes in the other room, and took the disk out of the machine. If he was truly correct—which he was 99-percent positive he was—then all he would have to do is inform Stitch of the situation, and then help come up with a solution to solve it.

_"Maybe a cerebral scan is good idea." _He thought. _"Could identify center of reaction-zone in brain. Perhaps be checking memory database and…erasing whatever it is that is causing such an enormously dangerous reaction." _He stepped through the door to where Stitch was, and saw him with his arms clasping the side of the bed, and his chest rolling, gasping for breath. Jumba sat on the bed, which was barely big enough for Stitch let alone him, and tapped the little blue experiment to wake it up. Stitch felt exhausted when he came to, like he just ran for three days straight without stopping.

"G…" He tried to ask, but his voice was dry. He sucked spit into his throat, reviving his tongue and uvula, and then successfully spoke again. "Gaba…ichuja?"

"Well…" Jumba said, idly drumming his fingers, trying to think of how to put it. "First, must be apologizing. I did not actually do cerebral scan…I performed another experiment to prove…a hypothesis." Stitch's erratic breathing settled, and he sat up, removing the goggles off his face.

"What…hypo-"

"Taking it easy, 626." He advised, pushing Stitch to lie back down. "You do not remember what was going on—you were completely unconscious during the whole thing. I will explain it to you…but I feel that 624 and little girl must be informed as well. You have…very serious condition…but is curable with their help. We will go when you are ready." Stitch's ears twitched with alert curiosity—the idea that something was wrong with him, and the idea that he didn't know what it was, made him feel like he was losing some kind of control over his mind. He stood up on the bed, an action that was obviously too much for him, as he nearly fell over, but he stood regardless.

"Stitch ready." He told Jumba, using him for much-needed support in standing.


	3. Phase

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 3: Phase

Angel jumped, and 600 got toast caught in her throat, as Jumba suddenly came through the kitchen door. The piece of toast that Angel was currently working on flipped from the pan, right into Jumba's unconscious hand. He stared at it, slightly confused as to how it got there.

"Hmm…is little bit crunchy, but good." He commented to lighten the mood of surprise, biting into half of it. His eyes wandered to 600, sitting at the kitchen table, thrusting a hand to her chest to get the chunk of toast down to her stomach. "600?"

"_…Jumba_?" She asked back, surprised to see him. She noticed the giant scientist and, beside him, the one who she remembered called himself Stitch. She strained to gulp one last time, stretching her esophagus to allow the hunk of bread to finally fall into her stomach.

"Where did you be coming from? Little girl, 626 and 624 have been searching all over for you! Would have found you faster if computer wasn't on the blink…" He trailed, biting into the toast again. "Speaking of little girl, where is she being?"

"_…Jumba_?" 600 repeated rhetorically.

"_To be honest-_" Angel whipped her hand away from the pan and stuck it in her mouth. "_She's looking for you upstairs._" She finished through gritted teeth, licking the burn on her hand to numb the sting.

"Well, as you are seeing, am here." He stated, matter-of-factly, then turned toward the stairs and shouted. "Little girl!" Not a second later, a rapid-fire thumping of steps came from upstairs as Lilo rushed to the railing.

"What, what happened, is something wrong?" She asked quickly, in response the loud, and slightly urgent sounding, shout.

"Well…" Jumba began, "would not exactly call it something being 'wrong'…but, are needing you. Come, have seat." Lilo hopped up on the railing and slid down partway, then aborted the rest and made a B-line for the chair Jumba pulled out as soon as she hit the floor. Angel turned, though she kept her concentration on the toast lest she get burned again, and spoke.

"_What's 'wrong' but not 'wrong'_?" she repeated, flipping her current piece of toast.

"Yeah, what's up? –Hi Stitch!" Lilo said, almost changing the subject. Stitch smiled and walked forward, approaching the seat adjacent to Lilo.

"Little girl, 626, and 624—and 600; may as well listen while you are here, as you are somewhat a part of this, somewhat," her ears twitched a little, "there is something very important I am needing to discuss."

"Don't tell me it's Zeus…" Lilo said, slightly nervous. The sky _had _been getting cloudy lately, which made her a little paranoid.

"No, fortunately. But, _un_fortunately, is about 626…" Jumba noticed the immediate interest in all of them, though it was affecting Lilo and Angel more. They stared at Stitch, and he seemed to sink in his chair, for he, too, still had no idea what was wrong—on the way back Jumba was silent, and he had done nothing to pursue the explanation at the time. Jumba continued, facing Lilo, "Little girl, are you remembering when you brought 626 into my room before you swapped bodies?" He asked, pronouncing the "e" in "swapped".

"Before we…yeah, I remember."

"Good. Because, you told me that 626 had undergone a strange, unexplainable reaction to something—and to what we didn't know. Correct?"

"Yeah; he started breathing really hard, got all sweaty, and his veins popped out like a dried-up mummy." She said, rather excitedly. Then she calmed herself and simply repeated, "Yeah."

"Yes, well," Jumba said, clearing his throat. Angel gave Stitch and Lilo each a piece of toast, which they replied to with gratitude. "Am not sure if you and 624 are being aware, but 626 has told me earlier this morning that 600," he glanced toward her, "explained to 626 some time ago, when they were on Gantu's ship, that he had undergone a similar reaction."

"_Well…yeah._" Came 600. "_I didn't notice any bulging veins, but there was a temperature rise and erratic breathing. And also-_"

"So," interrupted Jumba, "I am thinking that these two 'shocks' were related. Now, little girl, will you please tell me what happened—if you can remember—before 626 went under 'shock' before you two swapped?" Lilo bit into her toast again, thinking deeply. She remembered picking Stitch up, carrying him on her shoulder, and running back to the house…

"Now I remember!" She said, slamming her hand on the table. "We met Gantu on the way to the beach—that's where we were going—and then he suddenly dropped!" Jumba nodded and turned toward 600. His nonchalance made them all wonder if he already knew the answer, and was just showing off.

"And," he asked to the green experiment with purple stripes, who bit her last piece of toast, "what happened before _your_ experience with this 'shock'?"

"_Well…I was running from Gantu, and then I ran into Angel, and knocked her off the slope-_"

"_I tried to stop you, you didn't run into me…_" Angel corrected meekly.

"_Well either way. Going on; the next couple things I can remember…_" She tapped her chin a couple times, "_Stitch jumped on Gantu, and they both had a pretty mean stare-down, then Gantu threw him to the ground. So hard, in fact, that he pretty much imprinted his body in the dirt. I'm not sure how strong he his, but he said he was all right, and then he went into the shock…I suspect he was under its influence before he even hit the ground, but I think the impact was what did it._" Jumba nodded conclusively, as though something was just confirmed that he wasn't telling them.

"You are, indeed, partially correct 600." He replied. He let them eat a bit more, glancing at Stitch every now and again while Angel sat at the table, and ate her toast. Then he began again, "When 626 told me of this, and I remembered the time it happened beforehand, I put two-and-two together, and realized there was a consistency with both of the stories." Jumba paused, and looked at Stitch, as if he wanted him to give the answer.

"Gantu." He said, now realizing the "consistency" Jumba spoke of.

"Precisely. But, until about an hour ago, that was only being a hypothesis. However, I ran a test—and, in actuality you are not aware of that 626—and these are the results." He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket, and handed it to Angel.

"What does it say?" Lilo asked immediately, as all of them but Stitch curiously tried to read it at the same time. He was more worried than curious. Angel dropped the paper, which was grasped by Lilo, and looked at him with astonishment.

"_Why wasn't I aware of this_?" She asked, a little hurt, looking back at Jumba. He shrugged. She looked back at Stitch, and spoke to him. "_Are you aware that you were nearly under a heart-attack_?" She asked him. With his stare came his answer.

"Allow me to explain." Jumba said. "Those goggles that I gave you, 626, were not really satellite-enhanced television goggles. They were merely a means of sending pictures to the eye without light interfering—specifically used in eye-tests. However, that was not the purpose for them in this case. I put into the screen, a picture of Gantu's face. The results, as you can see, are explaining the rest."

"That's a really big number…" Lilo commented, looking at the pulse count Angel mentioned. "I don't think I can even count that high."

"_So what you're saying is…if he just _looks _at Gantu's face, he'll go into that state again_?" Angel asked to confirm.

"Most likely. But, am noting something else as well. 626's temperature rose, yes, but not dramatically. And I suspect that this time, his pulse was not as quick as it would have been the first and second times. Am thinking it is either the picture was not as effective as real thing, or perhaps it is naturally happening, but I suspect that each case is gradually becoming less severe."

"Well if that's true, then is there a way we can get him over it?" Lilo asked sympathetically. Stitch felt awkward, but not because of the "shocks", more because everyone was speaking about him as though he weren't there.

"Is possible. Will be needing to perform cerebral scan, just to check any kinks. Something about Gantu is triggering this affect—could be a reoccurrence of some kind." Jumba sighed, and scratched his head. "But, am needing bit of time. Give me little while to find something and then will get right on it. In mean time, why not be finding One, True Place for 600."

"Good idea." Lilo said. "But…what does she do? We have to name her first, and to do that we have to know her powers." Stitch felt the awkwardness vanish as the third-person discussion switched over to the referred. 600 stood to her feet.

"_Well that's easy. Now that I'm full, I can just show you._" She said with a smile. But suddenly—and it took a couple seconds for the group to realize it—there was an abrupt lack of something where she was standing: more specifically, a lack of_ her_.

"What…the…"

"Gaba…" The ones at the table said. Jumba laughed deeply.

"Be looking behind you, 626." He said. All of them looked, and there she was. They did a double take, between where she stood and where she had once stood, and all three began to slowly scoot away from her in their chairs in synchrony. She smiled at Stitch, who looked back at her as if she wasn't real, and batted her eyelashes. His ears twitched, and he tilted his head a bit as she came up to him, and ruffled his cowlick. He let out a greeting laugh as she tickled his head, and then briskly licked her finger and tamed the stubborn tuft of hair. All the while Angel's manner changed.

"Um…cousin…" Lilo chimed.

"Miga?" 600 asked, looking at her. She nodded. "Gabitcha?" Lilo took a sigh.

"Well…um…" Casually she pointed toward Angel, whose hands were folded in front of her mouth, so that it hid her lips. All 600 could see were her eyes, which, from where she was, seemed to glow red with a calm flare of irritation. "He's kind of her…" Lilo continued, trailing to remain a peacekeeper in the subtle conflict that 600 was apparently unaware of. Her stroking his head slowed to a steady stop, and she carefully pulled her hand away, and smiled nervously back at Angel, who was now growling a little bit.

"_D-don't worry._" She apologized with a chuckle."_He's…cute, but not my type._" She finished, trying to sound honest. _"Sheesh. I'd hate to see what would happen if someone _actually _came between those two." _She thought, as Angel gave one final warning growl before she returned to her kinder self. Lilo changed the mood by speaking again, turning toward Jumba.

"Explain. What did she just do? Teleport?" She commanded jokingly. Jumba scratched his head.

"Little girl is probably not in the knowing of Tetra-space mathematics and principles…"

'Miga naga…" Stitch commented.

"Well, 626, it will be easy for you to be understanding, but little girl will be needing example."

"_Tetra-space—use a Hyperdrive-engine._" 600 suggested.

"Ah, of course! Hyperdrive-engine is perfect example; little girl is very familiar with Hyperdrive."

"Ugh…I hate it sometimes, it makes me sick to my stomach." Lilo groaned with her tongue sticking out.

"Well, to answer little girl's question in small earth nut-shell, 600 stepped from spot over there," he pointed to where she was previously, "to spot over there," he pointed to where she was presently, "however it happened in such a way that it was far too quick for our eyes to see."

"Really?"

"_How_?" Angel asked curiously. Jumba smiled, admiring his genius a little bit.

"Well, using Hyperdrive-engine as example: when captain of large ship activates Hyperdrive, the Hyperdrive-engine swirls the gravity around the ship, and condenses it into a tiny space. This causes implosion, resulting tunnel through which ship can access long distances in quick amounts of time. These tunnels are being called Tetra-space."

"Cousin create Tetra-space?" Stitch asked.

"Correct, however, she is much more efficient than a Hyperdrive-engine. After a jump, a Hyperdrive-engine takes a long time to recharge, whereas 600 over there," when he pointed, he realized she had moved back to her seat, so he corrected his gesture, "can teleport multiple times before needing recharge. And in her case, must recharge with food."

"Cool!" Lilo exclaimed.

"_What about a barrier_? _Can she step _through _a barrier_? _Like a closed door, for instance_?" Angel inquired.

"_Of course I can._" 600 replied.

"Is easy for her. In Tetra-space, she is much more condensed than objects in normal space, which allows her to pass through doors, windows, walls—even you and me." Lilo jumped up onto her seat excitedly.

"Can she take other people too?" She asked. Jumba looked at 600, as if he didn't know the answer.

"_I can. I've gotten a lot better at it…_" She said.

"Well, if you think you can…would you mind demonstrating it with little girl?"

"_I'd be glad to._" She replied happily, and then added, "_for another couple pieces of toast afterward—those are delicious_!" Angel immediately got up to turn the oven back on, eager to watch the demonstration. Lilo clenched her hands into fists with enthusiasm.

"Yes!" She immediately stepped up to 600 and took her offered hand.

"Being careful now…if tunnel collapses, abort, understanding me?"

"_Don't worry, I don't take risks. After all, I don't want to end up dissected do I_?"

"Don't worry Jumba, I'll be…" Immediately Lilo felt a strange shift in her weight, causing her to pause her sentence. It felt like she was suddenly underwater, being tossed around in every direction—which reminded her of the floods—but she was perfectly still. "…Fine…" She finished, glancing around.

Everything began to change—objects started to appear translucent, and she was able to see beyond the walls of the kitchen to the trees outside and, the other rooms of the house. She stared back at 600, who was more noticeable, as she was still opaque. Lilo also noticed a pair of antennae on 600's scalp.

"What's going on?" She asked, a little giddy.

"_We're in between normal space and Tetra-space._" 600 replied, her voice casual and experienced. "_Pretty soon you'll see a tunnel, that's the Tetra-space Tear. We're going to have to step through it quick, I don't want it to collapse on us._"

"C-collapse?"

"_Don't worry, we'll be fine._"

"What'll happen though…if it collapses…?"

"_Can't say. Jumba said that it could be as harmless as just starting me back from where I was, or it could be that I might get dissected and end up in two places across the universe._" A tiny speck of light, a little orb, popped up between them at eye-level without warning. "_That's the seam of the Tear._" 600 explained. Lilo gulped.

"Why does the tunnel collapse?" She asked, to keep her mind off the previous thought 600 had put into it.

"_Simply because it takes so much energy to create it. You see, I'm more powerful than a Hyperspace-engine, in that I can get from one place to another literally instantly, and rapidly, but with that comes limits._" The Tetra-space Tear grew bigger by the second, and 600 motioned for Lilo to step aside.

"What kind of limits?"

"_Well, for one thing it's very tiresome, and requires a lot of energy, like Jumba said. Another thing is, I can only do this for a certain _range" 600 pointed to her antennae. "_I use these to calculate where I'm going, so without them I won't be able to control where I'm headed._"

"How far can you go?"

"_If I were able to keep the tunnel up long enough I suppose I _could_ try to jump the entire universe, but that would be like trying to spot an atom with your eyes; so small it's impossible to find it accurately._"

"So it's like when my sister plays darts; the farther back she is from the board the harder it is for her to hit the bulls-eye." Lilo said, understanding the gist.

"_I suppose so…all right, get ready, it's about to open._" Almost on cue the white orb to their side—now roughly the size of an orange, erupted somewhat violently, but it didn't seem to harm Lilo—only scare her. Though the tunnel was spherical, it looked only two-dimensional, and she couldn't tell if it was a ball or a flat circle, as the perspective seemed to alternate between both. There were streaks of purple that went either parallel down the tunnel, or simply met in the middle of the circle, getting thinner as it neared the center. It depended upon which perspective it was interpreted as. Lilo's eyes started to twitch from the illusion.

600 quickly jumped in, taking Lilo behind her. The next thing Lilo knew, she was outside, on the other side of the house. Her eyes widened and she fell back on her rear with surprise; she had only taken one step into the Tetra-space; it felt impossible to have wound up where she was—not only that, when they stepped into the Tetra-space, they heading toward the _front _of the house, and they had wound up in the _back_.

"_Yeah…I only meant to go to outside next to the room we were in…_" 600 commented, noting the surprised look on Lilo's face.

"You missed the bulls-eye?"

"_Yeah…big time. Luckily we didn't arrive here six-feet up in the air, like what happened when I met you. By the way…sorry about that…_"

"That's all right." Lilo said, dusting off her shirt as she stood back up. She smiled and spoke with a ring in her tone. "I've got the perfect name for you!"

"_A name_?"

"Yeah. I'm naming you Phase, because you phase in and out of sight in the blink of an eye!" Lilo took Phase's hand and led her back to the kitchen. "C'mon, I wanna tell them what it was like!"

"_And _I_ want that toast_!"


	4. CTF

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also craeted by raVen)

Chapter 4: CTF

"Am guessing all went well?" Jumba asked rhetorically as Lilo and Phase came into the kitchen through the door.

"Yeah, but sorry we were gone for so long." Lilo apologized without sarcasm.

"_Gone_ _long_? _You've only been gone a few seconds…literally._" Angel told her.

"But that took a couple minutes…" Lilo retorted. "A few seconds ago we had only just stepped into the Tetra-space Tear."

"It may have taken _you _a minute or two to step into Tetra-space," Jumba came in, "but to us it was only a few seconds."

"_Lilo, you remember how everything but you and me started to fade so you could see through it_?" Phase asked. Lilo nodded her head. "_At that point, time in normal space basically stopped. It may seem like it took a long time, but in normal space it only takes a billionth of a second._"

"Couldn't have been saying it better myself." Jumba said snapping his fingers. "Well, now that we have demonstrated 600's power, and everyone is understanding how it works, I must be going to find my invention in which Pleakley has mistakenly put away as trash." Jumba ended with a scoff.

"_Why not let us help you look for it_?" Angel offered. Jumba put up his hands and shook his head.

"Is no need. Besides, I have plenty of other inventions to take to convention. And plus, you are needing to help 626 and little girl find 600's One, True Place." He smiled widely as he turned and stepped up the stairs.

"I guess we could…" Lilo murmured while Jumba left the kitchen. "But why not have Phase stay for a little while before we do that? After all, she makes us a group of four, so we can play games in teams against each other."

"Jugaba!" Stitch said with agreement, but then thought for a second. "But…games Stitch and Lilo play too hard for more than two." He commented.

"Well, that's no problem. We don't have to play any of our old games…there's some I know of that we can all play."

"_Like what_?" Asked Angel.

"Like…uh…." Lilo put a hand to her chin, coming up with a few ideas. "Well, if no one's at the boxing ring we could go there…but I'm not good at it. Or we can play 2-on-2 at the courts. Or maybe even…Capture The Flag?" All cousins raised their eyebrows.

"Gaba?" Came Stitch's voice, unfamiliar with the game name.

"Capture The Flag—it's a great game! We split into teams of two," she explained, gesturing her words, "and one team has a flag. The other team's goal is to get the flag and take it back to their base before they get tagged by the team that guards the flag."

"_That game sounds like fun._" Came Phase.

"Eh." Agreed Stitch and Angel.

"All right, let's play then. Who'll the teams be?" The cousins pointed at each other, Stitch to Angel, Angel to Phase, and Phase to Stitch, making a complete circle. Lilo rolled her eyes. "Well…we have to be on teams of two…and I don't think I can take on all of you with your powers. Why don't you be on my team Phase?"

"Oketaka." She agreed, stepping onto her side past an invisible dividing line.

"_What'll the flag be_?" Angel asked.

"I'll get a washcloth from the bathroom for us to use."

"_And where will the bases be_?" Came Phase. Lilo thought for a second.

"Well, we can play outside right out back. I think we should have the house be the base for the flag-capturing team, and the flag itself, I think, should be hidden by the flag-guarding team, so that the other team has to find it."

"Oketaka." Stitch said. "Stitch and Angel guard flag first."

"And me and Phase will capture it." Lilo finished, a bit competitively.

"_Hey, wait a minute…_" Angel said with realization. "_She can teleport_! _You have an unfair advantage._"

"_I won't teleport._" Phase said promisingly. "_Besides, that would make it rather easy…_" She continued, a little arrogantly.

"_Well…all right. But if you do, you're automatically disqualified._"

"Oketaka." She agreed.

"Right. I'll get the flag, and we'll take a couple communicators so we can start at an even time!" Lilo yelled back, as she was already running up the stairs.

Angel closed the communicator after letting Lilo know they were ready. Soon they would be out of the house and skulking through the dense woods, where they had decided the flag was to be hidden for their games. She glanced around, and smiled as Stitch emerged from the brush.

"_Find a good hiding spot for it_?"

"Eh, _very _good." Stitch replied. Angel kept her smile, and walked over to him, crouching to hide.

"_It'll be a while before they get here—provided Phase keeps her word._"

"Phase will." Stitch said, sitting down on the grass. Angel turned to sit next to him.

"_You know…I think there's a reason Lilo chose Phase to be on her team._" Angel said with coo. Stitch blinked a couple times, realizing what Angel was getting at.

"Maybe." He commented, stifling a nervous laugh as Angel put her hand on his.

"_Well, even if she didn't plan on it…its nice having these little moments._" Angel leaned on his shoulder and started stroking his arm. There were a long three moments without talk; Angel thought quietly about the earlier morning, about the scan Jumba had performed. "_Are you feeling ok_?" She asked to him with concern, breaking the silence.

"Oketaka…gaba?"

"_I mean from this morning…you're not feeling ill or anything_?"

"Oh." He said slowly, now realizing what she was referring to. "Naga. Stitch feel fine." He replied cheerfully, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Why? Angel worried?"

"_Of course I am._" She replied. Stitch seemed to tilt his ears. "_You can't blame me though; I didn't know until just now. I had no idea you had a shock when we met Gantu, let alone the one before that._" She paused, relaxing a little bit. "_Why do you think Gantu is the cause of them_?" She asked. Stitch's mind clicked from her question; he hadn't given that thought yet.

"Not sure exactly, but…" He trailed. Angel looked up at him.

"_But what_?" She asked, eager to know what was on his mind.

"There something Jumba doesn't know…about second shock." He replied. Angel could sense the reluctance in his voice; it reminded of her of when she was talking with Nani the night before in the dark kitchen. She was reluctant to tell Lilo's older sister her thoughts. Stitch was being the same way, and Angel felt a sense of curiosity, along with a bit of respect, in a sense. She really wanted to know what was on Stitch's mind, but didn't want to force it out of him if he didn't want to tell her.

_"But he _doesn't_ have to…" _She thought with a grin. "_Well…you don't have to tell me what that 'something' is…but can you still tell me what you think caused the shocks_?" She asked sweetly, applying the technique Nani had used on her. He looked up.

"Angel remembers robots?" He asked quickly. Angel's ears twitched with surprise.

"_What about them_? _They're not in you anymore—what do they have to do with this_?" She asked with a little uneasiness in her voice.

"Naga nota. But, Stitch remembers saying something during that time, while robots took Stitch over. And when Phase told Stitch what happened when Stitch woke up in Gantu's ship, Phase said Stitch said something."

"_And that 'something' was what you had said before…when you were being taken over by the robots_? _And that's what didn't tell Jumba about, right_?" Angel asked, piecing it together.

"Eh." He replied.

"_…But, that still doesn't explain why Gantu causes these reactions._"

"Stitch can't explain that…Stitch can't really remember much that happened while Stitch was being controlled."

"_…I'm sorry. He should have never done that to you—him _or _Hamsterveil._" Angel apologized, hugging him.

"Isa oketaka." Stitch said, hugging back. "Stitch just doesn't understand why Hamsterveil _did_ take Stitch."

"_I wish I could tell you. But…maybe it has something to do with that project he kept mentioning…_" Angel said, trailing. Stitch's ears perked.

"Project?" He asked. "Ibashta?"

"_I'm not sure exactly what it is…he never talked about it much. All I can say is that it had something to do with…Achie-baba Kino. But,_" she looked up at him, "_you took care of that thing. After all…it was only an android._" Stitch shifted, to look at Angel's eyes.

"Angel…" He began. "Stitch been meaning to ask something."

"_I've been meaning to ask something too…but you first._" She said, a bit startled by his change in attitude. He suddenly seemed worried, almost frightened. Angel wondered if it was because she mentioned Achie-baba Kino.

"_Why_ did Hamsterveil create Achie-baba Kino?" She was right.

"_That was one thing he made sure not to tell me._" She replied immediately. "_But I overheard him and Gantu talking. They said they made it to combat the other cou-_"

"We got the flag! We got the flag!" Came Lilo's voice, scaring Angel to her feet, and poised in a fighting stance. "Can't catch us! We're almost home free!" They heard her voice come from in the forest, heading toward the house. Angel's shoulders relaxed, and she dropped her stance, her breathing returning to normal.

"_We'll let them win this one._" She said, brushing off the slight embarrassment of being so startled.

"Naga!" Stitch said competitively. "Stitch and Angel can't lose, c'mon!"


	5. An Eavesdropping

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 5: An Eavesdropping

The room was slightly quiet as Stitch's cerebral scan took place. Stitch, the subject, sat on Jumba's worktable near the computer, idly kicking his legs that loosely hung over the edge. A metal bowl from the kitchen was put on his head, which was hooked up to the computer with one cord, and hooked up to the toaster (also from the kitchen) with another.

Jumba sat in his chair to Stitch's left, monitoring the computer and surveying the results-in-progress that zipped by on the screen. Lilo and Angel sat together, watching the scan take place, and Phase took her place among the piles of gadgets that littered Jumba's room, searching through them and finding anything that caught her fancy. All three looked at the toaster and pinged.

"Ah, scan is completed, can be removing helmet, 626." Jumba said taking the pieces of toast that sat in the toaster.

"_And…what does the scan say_?" Asked Angel.

"Well, scan such as this requires deep analysis. Will be focusing on it after Academy meeting." Jumba said, eyeing the toast in his hands. Stitch placed the "helmet" next to the computer and hopped off the table, where he went to Lilo and Angel.

"How are you going to analyze toast?" Lilo asked. Jumba looked at her as though she'd lost her mind, but then realized what she was talking about, and let out a chuckle.

"Silly little girl, toast is not for analyzing; all data is on computer." He told her.

"_Well then…what's the toast for_?" Phase asked.

"Simple." Jumba said, taking a bite. "Forgot to eat breakfast." All of them gave him a look, which he responded to with a sly smile and shrug.

"Did Jumba find invention yet?" Stitch asked.

"Invention? Oh, for meeting. …No, have been looking everywhere all day and still not able to find. Am just going to have to bring something else along." He replied, shutting the computer down. Just as the computer closed, a rumbling noise came from outside. "Sounds like bigger girl is home from work." Lilo's eyes bolted open with surprise.

"Oh no!"

"_What_?" Asked Phase with concern.

"You!" Lilo exclaimed. Phase glared. "No, no, sorry—it's just that my big sister doesn't like new cousins in the house. If she sees you, she'll freak."

"_Does…that mean I need I to leave_?"

"Nope…we just gotta hide you for a little while."

"_Your room_?" Angel suggested.

"That's the first place she'd look." Lilo said quickly, trying to think.

"Nani coming inside." Stitch warned, as he heard the front door opening.

"May I suggest laundry room? Last load was done yesterday, perhaps 600 can hide there for little while." Jumba suggested.

"It'll have to do." Lilo said. "But…how will we get her downstairs without Nani seeing her?" Jumba let out a laugh.

"You are forgetting? 600 can get there in second through Tetra-space." Jumba turned toward Phase. "Is big room with wishy-washy machine, should be somewhere in that direction." He told her, pointing to his door.

"_I don't remember this being a part of the One, True Place deal…_" Phase commented.

"Sorry. I forgot to tell you that if you want to stay the night, we have to ask my sister. We'll come get you when the coast is clear, ok?"

"Oketaka." She said, and disappeared instantly.

"And until then, we've got to keep her occupied until we can ask her." Lilo said to Stitch and Angel.

"Eh." They replied. After they were tired of capturing each other's flag, Angel brought up the point that if they were going to find Phase's One, True Place, they would have to do it the next day, as it was already five by the time they were done. Lilo had been counting on Nani being out until about eight; not six-thirty. Their whole plan of smuggling Phase for the night had been shut out, so they were forced to improvise.

"The toaster's missing!" Nani announced, as though she were searching for the first imperfection in the house, just Stitch, Lilo and Angel all came down the stairs. Nani's hours had apparently shifted her a bit on the yelling side.

"Uh…we needed it. Jumba needed an extra appliance for his scanner." Lilo reasoned.

"What scanner?" Nani asked, slumping on the couch.

"Stitch is having cerebral problems, so we're checking to see if he's ok."

"Lilo, you don't need a scan to tell that Stitch is funny in the head." Her sister commented cheerfully.

"Hagaba!" Stitch retorted. Angel pointed and leaned against the wall next to the stairs, laughing. "Chooga mataba." Stitch grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Not _mental _problems, _cerebral_." Lilo said, petting Stitch on the head. "At least, I don't think he's having mental problems…"

"I'm just teasing, Lilo." Nani apologized with a sigh. "Sorry I'm so grumpy. I just had a rough day. You know I didn't mean it Stitch."

"Chimito." Stitch said, as Jumba came down the stairs, wrapped in a giant overcoat, and wearing a pair of big glasses over his front pair of eyes with a big nose and edible-mustache attached, which he invented for stress-relief purposes.

"Well, am glad to be seeing you home, and wish I could stay for dinner, but must be going." He said, making his way to the door.

"_Going_?" Nani asked harshly. "Going where?" Jumba paused at the doorknob and turned.

"Am going to Academy meeting. Have been looking forward to for months." Lilo noticed he had a small box in his left hand, and wondered what invention was so small.

_"Maybe it's his Micro Storage Case." _She thought.

"Well…how long are you going to be _gone_?" Nani began to sound irritated. "I have to help David at a luau in an hour, and with Pleakley gone to do his little status report or whatever, I need _you_ be _here_ while _I'm_ gone!"

"Why not be calling one of those…what are they…babies-sittingers?"

"I can't call a babysitter! None of them will sit for Lilo anymore!"

"Nani…" Lilo tried to get her sister's attention.

"And besides, we have _aliens _in the house,"

"Nani…" She repeated, a little louder.

"I don't know if you need to be reminded, but the Council will get very angry at me if I-"

"_Nani!"_ Lilo said in a prolonged scream. Nani's eyes darted down to her sister's height.

"What, Lilo?" She asked after taking a couple cleansing breaths. Stitch and Angel backed away from Lilo as a joke. "What?" Nani asked again, much more calmly this time.

"We can stay home alone." She said plainly. _"That way we can keep Phase in the house and not have to worry about anyone finding out about her." _Came the other part of the proposition in her mind.

"No, you ca-"

"Yeah we can!" She retorted sharply, stomping her foot. "It's not like we're going to break the house down or anythi-"

"Look, Lilo," Nani began calmly, leaning down and putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, "I partially trust you _won't _bring the house down while I'm gone—even though it happens nearly all the time—it's just…" She paused, picking the right words. "If Gantu, or Hamsterveil, or even another experiment attacks the house, I want at least _someone _to be at the house that's aware something like that can happen."

"Well, if anything attacks, I've got Stitch." Lilo reasoned. "And plus, we kicked Gantu's butt not too long ago, so he'll be out for a while anyway. _And _you said yourself that there wasn't a babysitter alive that wouldn't _dare_ come near me," she said this with a little arrogance, "why not just let us stay home for…" She noticed the expression on her sister's face, one of an idea popping into someone's head. "What are you thinking?"

"There might not be a _babysitter _alive…" Nani said, trailing her words.

Stitch wandered casually down the hallway, heading toward the laundry room. Phase would be there, waiting for someone to tell her when the coast was clear—if she didn't go anywhere else by now, that is. Stitch stepped to the door, which was closed, and prepared to knock, but her voice caught his ears.

"_You do have that amplifier ready, don't you_?" Another voice; familiar, but it was low. He couldn't make it out. "_Good. Be ready to give it to me._" She paused again, that other voice came; Stitch craned his ear."_I know you've…got eyes on me…I won't fail._" Stitch pressed his ear flat against the door, trying to hear more, but her voice stopped.

_"What was that…?" _He thought, still pressed against the door, he heard a distinct and familiar tweet of an electrical device, but couldn't figure out what it was, though it was on the tip of his mind, just behind his forehead. He heard ruffling, and a quick _pop _sound, like bubble-wrap, then silence. He stayed, frozen against the door, watching the wall while he tried to piece together what she was talking about. _"Amplifier? Eyes? Won't fail…at what?"_

"_…Is someone there_?" Came her voice from behind the door. Stitch quickly wondered if he asked those questions aloud, but couldn't recall. "_Hello_?" Came her voice again, hesitantly. Stitch opened the door, acting as though he'd just arrived.

"Uh…Stitch came to tell Phase to go back upstairs to Stitch's room. Sorry for taking so long, did not mean to make Phase wait."

"_It wasn't that long of a wait,_" she replied uneasily, "_it wasn't boring or anything_."

_"You were talking to someone…who." _Stitch wanted to say, but he didn't.

"_Is anything wrong_?" She asked, noticing his expression. He quickly changed it, as if unaware he had dawned it.

"Naga. Someone is coming soon. Nani and Jumba leaving, so someone else coming until Nani or Jumba return. Phase not have to hide once person arrives." Stitch told her.

"_Who's 'person'_?" Just as she spoke, the doorbell rang.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Nani said, as the doorbell rang a second time. She opened it quickly. The sky outside was nearing twilight, and the man standing in the doorway was almost a silhouette in contrast to the hazy, bright blue sky. "Come in." Nani beckoned. A tall dark, man stepped through the doorway, ducking as he entered. He gazed at Nani almost coldly, lowering his shades with his large hands.

"Let's get one thing straight: I'm not here as a _babysitter_; I'm here because the Council ordered me here under the promise that this family is under universal protection—is that clear?" Cobra Bubble's stern voice made Nani's smile open nervously.

"Right…" She agreed, closing the door.


	6. Babysitter

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 6: Babysitter

"There's money for pizza next to the phone. I'll be back in around nine; by that time everyone should be in _bed._" Nani said in a hurry, grabbing her keys and hastily walking to the door with quick, long strides. "And make sure Stitch doesn't drink coffee!" She shouted, after getting into the truck and starting the engine. Cobra Bubbles stood in the doorway and watched her leave before he slowly shut it. _"He's better than nothing…" _She thought, turning at the intersection.

Bubbles turned around, Lilo and Angel were standing behind him, joined momentarily by Stitch. They looked at each other for a long moment, Cobra lifting an eyebrow.

"So…babysitter…" Lilo said awkwardly.

"I'd prefer the term 'Temporary Guardian'." Said his rolling voice. Lilo's lips moved to a small "O" near the corner of her mouth.

"_This is getting eerie…_" Angel whispered with a ring.

"Um…pizza?" Asked Stitch, trying to change the mood a little. Everyone seemed to subtly relax.

"Yeah, pizza." Lilo chimed with a smile.

"Your sister left us enough for two." Cobra said after he went to the phone on the wall. "What toppings?" He asked with his low, rolling tone.

"Pepperoni sound good?" Lilo asked to the couple.

"Eh." Stitch agreed energetically.

"_I guess so…I don't really know what it is but I'll try it._" Angel commented. Cobra removed his shades and punched the number. There was a ten second pause as the phone rang, then he recited the order.

"It'll be here in about 20 minutes." Cobra said, after thanking and hanging up.

"All right…I guess we'll be up in our room." Said Lilo, already walking toward the stairs. "Come on guys, let's play a board game. You can make yourself at home ok?" She said rhetorically to Cobra. He merely nodded and stood while they disappeared behind the corner of the hall. Stitch saw no one in the room as he climbed up the elevator shaft; Lilo and Angel were taking the lift up.

"Phase?" Lilo called, but no one responded. "You did tell her she could come up here, didn't you?" She asked Stitch.

"Uh huh." He replied. "Then Phase disappear, when Cobra came."

"_Maybe she just got scared and went somewhere else_?" Angel suggested, walking to the closet to check if she was there, in vain.

_"No, she couldn't have gotten scared." _Stitch thought, walking to his bed. He sat down, thinking, while Lilo looked out the window. _"I told her she didn't have to worry; I thought she disappeared to here. I told her it was all right here, so then where did she go?" _ Lilo shut the window.

"Not outside from what I can tell. Maybe she'll come back in a few minutes. Something wrong Stitch?" Lilo asked, noticing his distant expression.

"Eh? No. Thinking."

"_Oooo…he's _thinking_; don't strain yourself._" Angel teased. Stitch shook his head and shrugged. Lilo let out a quick giggle.

"Well…while we wait, why not play that board game?"

"_Sounds fun._" Angel agreed.

"Oh…but I forgot…we've only got two-player board games." Lilo said, scratching her head.

"Isa oketaka, Stitch watch." He offered.

"_You sure, booch_?"

"Eh."

"Well then, I don't want to leave you bored. Why don't you pick the game you want to watch us play?" Stitch gave a half-nod and dropped to floor-level. He walked over to the closet, and climbed the wall to the top shelf, and pulled out checkers—his favorite game. "And you get to choose who's white and who's black too." Lilo said, as soon as she saw the game he picked.

"_Oh boy…I'm warning you Lilo, I won't go easy. 625 and I played this game countless times and I've never lost. He's sorry he taught me._" She boasted, sitting down on the floor while Stitch unfolded the board.

"I can beat Stitch sometimes." Lilo countered—Angel suspected she was being vague to hide her skill. Stitch took a chip of each color, in each hand, and put his palms together, where he shuffled the two pieces over and over for a few moments. He then took one in each closed fist and handed it secretly to each girl. Lilo was white; Angel was black.

"_I just don't get it…" _Stitch thought, as Lilo and Angel set their armies in place. "_What was Phase talking about? What 'amplifier'? What 'eyes' are on her? …No…what I want to know is _who was she talking to_?" _

"You're move."

"_No one was in the room when I came…unless she just talks to herself. I think there's something more to Phase…something that she's hiding."_

"_Oh, think you're clever_? _Watch this_!"

"_She seemed a little paranoid when I listened through the door, like I had caught her in a clandestine conversation._"

"King me!"

"_Maybe I should tell them…"_

"_Triple-jump_! _Beat _that!"

"_No…they'll just think I'm making things up. I'll need to find some evidence first…until then, I guess I'll wait._"

"_Well I'll be darn…you did beat it…_"

"Not only that, I beat _you_! Was that a good game or what, Stitch?" Stitch stopped his eyes from bulging with surprise; the game was over and he'd missed it completely. He looked at the stack of pieces Angel had, and the larger stack that Lilo so greedily tapped.

"Stitch play winner!" He said with a grin.

Cobra Bubbles went to the couch after Lilo, Stitch and Angel's feet went up the stairs and down the hall; the staccato of the sound faded as they reached the elevator and went upstairs. He removed his shades once again and glanced around, trying to figure out how to make himself at "home".

He wasn't used to anything like this; having to stay at a house to watch over a child and her two genetically-altered super-beings. Plus, he was accustomed to knowing Lilo's behavior: erratic, energetic, insubordinate, and most of all unpredictable. Not to mention the behavioral patterns of Stitch: a lot like Lilo except much worse. He would be prepared to watch his back—just because they went upstairs didn't mean they would necessarily stay there for long.

His way of interaction was to not leave much of a presence; the couch would be a good place for him to wait. He was exaggerating his job; he was just watching over three kids, who were upstairs, playing a board game. Nothing bad would happen, and if something did, he'd be prepared to take any kind of action.

He looked at the table next to him on the couch, upon which rested magazines of supermodels, fashion designs, gardening, mechanics, science, and a T.V. guide. He picked up the guide and thumbed through it, glancing at his watch to see what time it was. It was seven-ten at the moment; if he picked a show it would be right in the middle of it.

There was a program on house repair, one on cars, top-10 shows galore, cartoons, standup comedy and news. He picked up the remote and turned on the T.V.; the channel was set to a network that played mostly noir. He flipped through, watching what was on the other channels while he went to the news. But somewhere between channels 7 and 12, there was a knock at the door. He checked his watch, seven-fourteen. It hadn't even been ten minutes since he made the call for pizza.

"Who is it?" He asked, a little louder than his normal voice. No one on the other side answered; he immediately drew to a few conclusions. He went to the door and asked again, just to give whoever had knocked a second chance, if they were still around. He looked through the window, and saw no one.

Calmly he turned the doorknob and pulled slowly. He stood outside, glancing around, but there was no one there. One of the two experiments was probably behind this; pulling a quick getaway with their ability to scale walls. He waited for the second part of the prank, which came almost on cue. Behind him, the volume of the T. V. abruptly increased dramatically. The resonating of the noise made him slightly alarmed; he turned to the T.V. but, as he suspected, saw no one there nor on the couch.

"I'm not in the mood." He said loudly, after turning the T.V. down, hoping to alert the ones involved in the prank. By addressing them, he hoped to bring them out of hiding—they were only kids after all, so it would be easy to flush them out. He paused, but no one showed himself or herself.

He went to search the room, shutting and locking the front door. If they tried to escape through it, he'd hear the click. He checked under the couches—the first available hiding place for the person who turned the volume up—but did not see anyone. Then he glanced around the room, looking for things that had been moved or altered. The volume person would have to have run if she or he didn't hide, and that was possible, the volume was loud enough to cover footsteps, but something had to have been moved or left behind. These were kids; if they didn't leave something like that on purpose it would be on accident, but either way it would happen.

Yet he found nothing out of place—not even the remote had shifted; whatever method was used to turn the volume up, it was expertly performed. However, there were only two methods to turn up the volume, and the remote was one, which had not been moved at all. That only left the button on the T.V.

He moved toward it, knelt down, and pressed it. There was a very loud and hollow sound that came as he pressed it. The prankster couldn't have used the button; he would have heard it when he was standing at the door.

Not only that, the volume took several seconds to get higher. But he remembered it rising much faster when he was at the door—it could have even been almost instantaneous, now that he recalled the moment. He quickly wondered if he'd been underestimating these "kids".

"Well, I guess you've decided not to continue." He said loudly again, standing up. "I'll only consider this a warning, seeing as how you behaved. I won't mention this to Nani if you keep it u-" A loud sound hit his ear, a familiar sound, and he reflexively ducked; though it was unnecessary. The familiar glow of plasma crossed his vision, the angle not meant for him as the target, and then the deafening sound of breaking glass followed. He looked over to where the origin of the shot was fired; no one was there. The staccato of three pairs of feet came rumbling down the stairs: Lilo first, Angel second, Stitch last.

"What happened?" Lilo asked immediately. Bubbles slowly rose to his feet and glared at Lilo.

"Why don't _you _tell me? All three of you, down here, _now._" He said with a low, demanding roll of his voice.


	7. Deceit

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 7: Deceit

"Now I'm not even hungry anymore…" Lilo groaned lifting the oily piece of pizza she had on her plate. The smell of melted cheese and steaming pepperoni, mixed in with the slight shimmer on the slice, didn't appeal to her—not after what they were just thrown in to.

"All right, I'll do that. Bye." Cobra said, hanging up the phone.

"How much trouble are we in?" Lilo asked, her tone low.

"I've convinced Nani to stay at the luau; she'll talk with you when she gets home. Until then she said to separate you three and keep an eye on you."

"Kataba no-gata!" Stitch retorted, exclaiming their innocence again.

"We really didn't," Lilo pleaded, "honest!"

"Well, if you didn't, who did? You're the only one's in the house." Cobra reasoned.

"_But…we were upstairs…_" Angel explained.

"Yeah…Stitch and me were playing checkers…" Lilo chimed in, "and I was winning…" She added softly.

"Ah, naga." Stitch countered. "Stitch winning."

"I'm sorry Lilo, but I can only go with what I have. You three _claim _to have been upstairs, but I don't know that for sure."

"But you also can't prove we were down here either!" Lilo stated logically. Bubbles looked away, aware that she was actually correct; he only had circumstantial evidence, but he could only do as Nani instructed.

"I'll explain what happened to Nani later, when she's not busy…until then you three are separated. After dinner I'll assign your rooms." All three of them glared straight ahead, their elbows on the table and their heads resting in their hands. Cobra sighed. "Look, Lilo, even if it wasn't you, it still might be a good idea to separate. I know that plasma from a blaster doesn't appear out of nowhere—" He looked toward the taped-up window, with a little added saliva from Stitch and Angel "—and if there's something wrong here, I'd feel a lot safer if you three weren't easy to get to."

"_Appeared out of nowhere…what do you mean by that_?" Angel asked curiously. Cobra pulled out a chair and sat down patiently. He hadn't exactly told them of the experience.

"That plasma shot came from somewhere in the kitchen. When I looked, no one was there, and no blaster was there, and no one could have gotten in or out quickly enough, except you two."

Stitch's eyes wandered as Cobra looked at him and Angel. He looked beyond the dark man to the window, and his eyes caught something—some kind of figure in the corner, looking in; there was a slight orange glimmer on it though, which made him squint. He turned and tapped Angel and pointed for her to see, but when she looked nothing was there. She shrugged at his expression, while he looked at the window with confusion.

" I don't know if I exactly suspect you two," Cobra continued, "because I doubt you would do such a thing…but for right now this is what I have to go by. Unless someone had teleported in and out, there's nothing I can do." He finished sarcastically. Lilo's eyes bolted open.

"That's it! That's _exactly_ it!" She contradicted hastily. "Someone _did _teleport!"

"…Lilo, this is no time for games."

"No, no game. There's another experiment here…her name is Phase, and she _can _teleport." Cobra's eyebrow lifted. "Really." Lilo said, as if that would somehow miraculously make him believe her.

"Then where is Phase now?" He asked. Lilo lost her zeal; Cobra was only thinking she was making up a story.

"…Good question…" She said rhetorically.

"I'm sorry Lilo, but I'm afraid blaming something like this on another experiment isn't a good excuse." Lilo didn't move; she merely flattened her eyelids, unable to believe his quick disbelief. She almost felt angry at Phase; whatever the cousin was doing it wasn't funny.

"Well fine. Even though the it's the truth." She said, finishing in an undertone. "I'm not hungry; I'm going to my room." She said, getting up.

"Nani wants you in your other room." Cobra said. Lilo sighed.

"Ok, fine. Can I change into my PJ's first, though?" She requested.

"Sure."

"_I think I'll just go ahead and go upstairs too…_" Angel said.

"Stitch three…"

"All right, I guess I'll take you all to your rooms then. And, if I see this Phase, she'll have a lot of explaining to do when Nani gets home." He said, as he followed the three upstairs.

Angel sat on her bed, up in the tower, kicking her feet against the bottom of the mattress, sighing with boredom. Stitch and Lilo were a floor below; Stitch in Nani's room, Lilo in her old room. They weren't allowed out, except for if they had to go to the bathroom, but they had to check with Cobra first, and they could only be out in the hall one at a time.

"_I really just don't get it…_" She said aloud, hopping down. "_What's going on with Phase_?_ Did she really try to shoot Cobra like Lilo thinks, or was it some kind of accident_?" Angel shook her head. She was asking questions that only Phase would be able to answer—if it was even Phase at all.

Boredom was sinking further in. She had only spent five minutes in solitude and already she was going crazy trying to look for something to occupy her time. The checkers game was still out; she decided to pick it up. Slowly she gathered all the pieces, drying the ones that Stitch used his tongue to move, and finally folded the board and put the lid on the box. She took the game and went to the closet, jumped onto the wall and climbed to the top, and when she got there, she was met with a pair of black eyes, looking at her in the shadows.

"_What the-_" She flinched back, losing her grip on the wall from the unexpected encounter. The checkers and board fell to the ground with a loud clash of plastic and cardboard. Angel managed to land on her feet, and looked up at the top shelf in the closet, where Phase sat. "_How long have you been up there_?"

"_Since you came._" She replied casually. Angel felt a sudden ping of dread; that meant she heard everything. Phase sensed that ping also. "_What was that about me shooting someone_?" She inquired, jumping off the shelf and down to the floor.

"_There's a man downstairs dressed in black, his name is Cobra Bubbles._" Angel stood firmly as she spoke."_Lilo thinks you teleported in, knocked on the door, turned up the volume on the T.V., and then shot at him with a blaster. Tell me that's not true._" Angel demanded. Phase nodded understandingly.

"_It wasn't—honest._" Angel gave her a look; she couldn't tell whether or not to believe her. She sounded honest, but then again the events seemed to counter her words. "_Look, I haven't been here for the past while. I've been following something…_"

"_Following something_?"

"_Yeah. When Stitch told me to come wait up here, I teleported, but I missed and wound up outside. I was going to take another shot at it, but then I saw something. I didn't know what it was, so I went after it, but it disappeared._" Angel went to sit down on her bed.

"_And so you've been chasing it this whole time_?" She asked, her tone unbelieving.

"_Yes…I've been looking everywhere but I couldn't find it._"

"_Why didn't you tell us_?"

"_I didn't want it to get away—it seemed dangerous._" Phase explained, her tone countering the stolid tone of Angel's. "_I'll bet it's what fired the blaster—not me. I swear_! _…I can even take you where I saw it, and take you where I chased it if you like._" Angel's eyes lifted; either she was desperate for lying or she wasn't lying at all.

"_All right. But we have to make this quick…Cobra makes rounds, and if I'm gone, I'm in for it._"

"_Ok. Do you think we should get Stitch and Lilo_?"

"_No…if we're all gone we'll be in deeper trouble than if I just left._" Phase smiled, but it seemed odd to Angel.

"_Good. Don't worry; it'll only take a second._ Kamiga ja-ja." She motioned, opening up the window.

"_Can't we just use your powers to get down there_?" Angel asked, crawling through.

"_I'm wasted; used it all up trying to chase after that _thing." Phase replied with a whisper. Angel kept her eye on Phase while she climbed down; she seemed a bit jittery, anxious even. She had a slight tremble in her manner. She looked up, and noticed Angel's look. "_I'm afraid of heights…_" She explained with a mumble.

The ground shuffled twice with a small thump as Phase and Angel dropped the last foot; Angel took a look around. The sky was ablaze with gilded clouds toward the half-set sun, which made the shadows on the ground stretch across the orange-hued grass. The trees in the woods ahead were brightened at their tops, but lower down, where the leaves fanned out, was shrouded in a cool shadow.

Phase pointed, and walked in that direction, keeping out of sight of the windows. She led Angel to the calmly shaded woods, but not very deep. They stopped at a clearing only half a minute or so after they entered, and Phase glanced around to make sure she was in the right place.

"_This is where I ended up._" Phase told her.

"_Wow…you really goofed that one up. I thought you only missed the room by a bit…_" Angel commented jokingly. Phase shrugged the comment off as though she didn't hear it, or didn't care about it. Angel found it odd—she had been very defensive about her powers all day; the sudden change in attitude struck Angel's instincts, but she ignored them.

"_And that's where I saw the thing. It was really dark, almost black, and it seemed hunched over._"

"_It was probably an animal…_" Angel said. "_You've probably never seen an animal before…sometimes they can be big and look dangerous, but that's because they-_" Angel stopped. In the distance, something crossed the trees. It was a quick black blur, but it somehow caught Angel's attention.

"_What_?" Phase asked after a moment.

"_I saw something…_"

"_Maybe it was the animal…_" She suggested. Angel saw it pass by again. This time, however, she saw an orange gleam streak across the black mass's back—it was the twilight sun's light reflecting off the surface of a metal object.

"_That's no animal—come on_!" She yelled, running after it. Phase followed her command, chasing after her. Angel sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of whatever that black-metallic "thing" was, but she couldn't pick up a distinctly different smell other than the forest. She ran only where she guessed it was running.

"_I think it's going this way_!" Phase shouted behind her. Angel turned and followed Phase, who ran quickly ahead. Angel darted her eyes around, trying to search for the metal thing again, but she didn't see it.

"_Are you sure, Phase_?" Angel shouted ahead. Phase didn't respond. There was nothing Angel could do but run after her. For minutes they ran, dodging trees, rocks, roots and bushes. Angel felt she was being lead in arbitrary directions. Finally, they came to a wide clearing, and Phase stopped. Angel, panting hard, came to a stop a bit behind her, and rested with her hands on her knees. "_Why did you…why did you…stop_?" She asked, catching her breath, looking around and not seeing any sign of the black object. Phase looked back, only turning her head; she seemed to not be tired at all, despite the long run.

"_Because, this is where we're getting picked up._" She said casually.

"_P…picked up_?" Angel stood upright, tilting an ear and lifting an eyebrow.

"_Yes. You and I are going on a little trip._"

"_A…trip_? _Phase…what are you talking about_?" Angel questioned sharply.

"_You'll find out soon. Get her_!" Phase commanded, lowly and coldly. Angel's instincts told her something was wrong, but they came far too late. She felt something wrap around her body from behind, clasping her arms against her sides, and squeezing tightly. She glanced back, to see the dark-metallic figure behind her, and she slowly drew in a silent scream of dread. Her eyes were met with the familiar green eyes of a creature she thought was destroyed long ago. Her vision flashed; her lungs felt the impact of a hard fist, causing her to let go of her breath with a muted gasp. Her vision blurred, and faded to black.


	8. Answers

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 8: Answers

Lilo sighed with boredom, lying on her bed—her old bed. She looked around the bare room; not much was left down there since all her stuff was up on the third floor. Her bed lacked a cover, and pillow, so there was no way she could get to sleep, unless she was extremely tired.

With one leg over the other she laid, staring out the window and watching the small flicker of light recede over the minutes. There was probably something in the room that would entertain her more than that, but she was too occupied by her thoughts to find one.

She was asking the same questions as Angel—where had Phase gone, who fired the blaster at Cobra, what Nani would do when she got home—but slowly they drifted away from what was to come and wandered to what had happened, specifically that morning.

_"I hope Stitch is ok…" _She looked at the wall that separated her room from Nani's, where Stitch was. _"He's been acting a lot different lately, now that Angel's staying here." _She noted. _"Not in a bad way though; he's a lot happier, and more obedient…a lot more obedient…but he's also a lot quieter. Maybe it's just those 'shocks'." _She turned over, laying her head down across her folded arms, staring blankly at the door. _"He seemed really sad this morning…I wonder what it feels like."_ She frowned, trying to empathize, but it was beyond her imagination.

_"Maybe I should do something to cheer him up. That's it! But what can I do? I already gave him time with Angel this morning…that did something, but I don't think it was enough. I'll ask him…I'll stop trying left and right and just ask him what he'd want me to do…that's it…"_

Lilo jumped at the sound of someone turning her doorknob. She sat up on the bed, quick and eager to see who was at the door. Was it Nani? Was it Cobra? Was it Phase? The door slowly slid open, and Lilo leaned forward on the bed, and immediately knew whom it was when she saw the left side of a little blue friend's face peeking in.

"Stitch!" She whispered, with both glee and alarm. "What are you _doing_? If Cobra catches you, you're done for!" Stitch smiled, winked, stepped to the side, and opened the door wider, standing beside it and stretching out his hand as if to present something to Lilo.

From her angle, she could clearly see the man in the black suit, fast asleep while sitting upright on the couch; his head was bent back in an awkward and uncomfortable looking position, and his arm hung over the remote control which was weighted down by his numb hand. A string of drool fell from the corner of his mouth as he opened it, letting out a snore.

"Is asleep." Stitch whispered, though a little loudly.

"Stitch…what did you do?" Lilo asked immediately, a tone of maternal scolding in her voice. She crawled off the bed and walked out into the hallway, continuing her observation on the sleeping Cobra.

"Naga miga." He protested, putting his hands up. "Stitch found asleep."

"Well…maybe he just got tired then." She said.

"Uh-uh." Stitch denied, shaking his head. He pointed to a can that was on the table in front of the sleeping body. Lilo walked slowly down the stairs and picked it up, examining it.

"'Jumba's Sleep Spray; WARNING: Experimental!'" She whispered aloud, walking up the stairs.

"Lilo believe Stitch…eh?" He asked, almost pleadingly. She looked at him and smiled, petting him on the head.

"Of course I do. You're much more behaved than that. But if you didn't do it…who did?"

"Venaba, ask Angel." He beckoned, heading toward the elevator. Instead of climbing up ahead, he waited for her to follow. She tiptoed with silence and haste to the elevator, to make sure she didn't wake Cobra—they may not have put him to sleep, but that didn't mean they had to wake him up.

"…Where is she?" Lilo asked with a normal voice upon reaching the third floor. "Where did she go? Was she in the bathroom?"

"Naga." Stitch said, as they walked away from the pad, meandering in their own directions, searching for Angel, although they knew she wasn't there. Stitch proceeded to the closet, where he noticed the checkers game spewed across the floor. There were claw marks near the top shelf of the closet—someone had been surprised. Was there a struggle?

"I'm going to go check Jumba's room, since someone had to have gotten that bottle from there, you stay here in case she returns, alright?" Lilo asked rhetorically as she fell through the floor.

"Oketaka." Stitch said, saluting. He dropped his arm as soon as her smiling face disappeared, and sighed. He turned and went to her bed, and sat down on its comfortable mattress, waiting. In the silence of the room, after a moment or two, his ears picked up a very feint noise. It sounded like three high-pitched beeps in rapid succession. He looked around, waiting until he heard them again.

They were muffled; blocked. His ears barely picked them up, but they were somewhere in the room. He dropped to the floor and listened for them again. They came ten seconds later, from either in front of him or to his left.

Using his ears as radars, he began to search the room, hearing the beeps every fifteen seconds. The location seemed to dart from here to there, as though the object of desire were on the move, yet it sounded the same each time. Something was blocking it—a solid object was in the way of the beeping and his ears. He went back to Lilo's bed, and immediately noticed that the beeps increased a slight half-decibel. It was right where he started all along.

He searched the covers first; there wasn't anything there, but he expected that. He moved onto the pillows; he hoped that it was there, but he found no such relief. The noise now was becoming more of an annoyance than a curiosity—if anything he wanted to find it just so he could _shut it up!_ He smacked the bedside table with frustration, searching under the bed: nothing.

"Ow!" He yelled sharply, hitting his head on the drawer that had slid open from him hitting the table. He rubbed his scalp, trying to numb the bruise, and heard the sound again. There was nothing blocking it this time—he heard it loud and clear: three beeps, high-pitched, and in rapid succession. He noticed something else too, something in the drawer: a red light flickered as the beeps went off.

He reached into the shaded drawer, seizing the object that made him want to smash the room to bits to shut it up. It was the small, palm-sized, oyster-shaped communicator, used mainly for contacting the Council. However, this morning they had used it in their game of Capture The Flag. What was it doing here? He opened it…

Lilo crept quietly down the hall; every squeak and creek in the old wooden floor sounded like a thousand shattering dishes to her. She was incredibly afraid that Cobra would somehow wake up, sneak up behind her, and scare her by simply watching her for a few minutes, without telling her he was there, only to let her find out sometime later, when she arbitrarily glanced in his direction.

She looked back, half expecting to see him there. If she did, she would at least feel smart knowing she was expecting it. But she didn't, and for that she let out her breath, continuing the rest of the way to Jumba's room. It was closed, but not locked; she turned the doorknob slowly; the click seemed to echo across the world. She looked back again, let out her breath again, and continued on, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello?" She called out at a comfortable tone. "Hello?" She called again, a little louder. No one responded, and she felt no one would. She started to look around, though she didn't know what she would find. "Something's fishy around here…and usually when that happens I'm supposed to look around, and without knowing it, find something that leads me to wherever I'm supposed to go or whatever I'm supposed to do. Now if I were a clue…where would I be?"

She first looked around and tried to find anything out-of-place. Though Jumba had been searching for his invention all day—which he still has yet to find—and so that was pointless, as everything was shifted and moved around since she had been there that afternoon.

"I think I'm in the wrong place…" She realized, leaning against the door and scratching her chin. Almost immediately, the doorknob turned with a jerk, and the door itself flew from her back, making her bend to the will of gravity. She screamed.

"Shush!" Stitch warned, quickly wrapping a hand around her mouth. He felt her breath on his hand as she started to laugh at what just happened.

"Well I wasn't expecting you to open the door while I was against it." She reasoned after he let go of the closed doorknob.

"Soka, did not mean to." He said. Lilo noticed the object in his hands.

"What's that?" She asked rhetorically.

"Answers." He said, handing it to her. Lilo realized what it was, and opened it curiously.

"REPLAY CONVERSATION? YES/NO," flickered across the screen. Lilo immediately punched the key, and nearly dropped it when she saw Hamsterveil's face appear.

"Where are you now?" Came Hamsterveil, curtly.

"_In the house._" Lilo's mouth opened wide; Phase's voice.

"Good. 624 is there too?"

"_Yes._"

"Then you are to retrieve her tonight." He commanded.

"_No problem. There's someone else here who doesn't know me, the other's are all out. I'll distract him and find a way to get Angel alone._"

"Proceed." He told her with a grin.

"_You do have that amplifier ready, don't you_?" She asked, her tone lacking trust.

"Yes, you shall receive it upon your arrival."

"_Good. Be ready to give it to me._"

"I'm counting on you, 600." He warned. "You know what will happen if you double-cross me?"

"_ I know you've…got eyes on me…I won't fail._" She replied, a little nervously. The screen went dead. Lilo shut it, anger showing on her cheeks.

"That's _not _cool!" She yelled, but Stitch had disappeared from where he was standing. Lilo's attitude turned to normal. "Stitch?"

"Makka." He told her, and she turned around. He was looking into the screen of Jumba's computer, expertly ticking away at the keys.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously, walking up to see the monitor. He looked at her sternly.

"Finding Angel." He replied, and hit the key to start the universal scan.


	9. A Sharing of Power

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 9: A Sharing of Power

"All right, I'm ready, did you find Angel yet?" Lilo asked through pants as she ran into Jumba's room, now dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

"Eh." He replied simply, however he had good reason, he was concentrating on something else. Lilo watched his odd movements; he was fidgeting with the back of Jumba's computer and also typing in different commands on the keypad.

"What are you doing?"

"One second." He chimed, with an undertone to let Lilo know he was fully occupied. In a few more moments, he sat in the chair, reached around to the back of the computer, and, outside of Lilo's vision, inserted his claw into one of the ports in the back. He opened his mouth, and extended his antennae.

"_…624 has been captured._"

"Hey! That's Phase!" Lilo said, running over to Stitch.

"Go…d…wh…t…s…yo…" Hamsterveil's voice was blocked by enormous static. Lilo jumped behind Stitch and tugged at his antennae, experimentally, and found that the static was greater or lesser depending on their positioning—much like on an old T.V.

"Hold still!" She said, and twisted the oddly stiff antennae; the static broke with a pop, and like a waxy ear canal that just got cleaned, the voices came through clear as though they were standing right in the room.

"_ETA is 6 minutes. Although, the other two have probably figured out that their guardian is asleep by now, and are probably figuring out that 624 is missing._" Lilo started to speak but Stitch closed her mouth, and silently told her that if she made a noise, they would hear it.

"And you are worried why?" Hamsterveil spoke.

"_Well…aren't you afraid they'll come_? _I'm sure they have ways of finding experiments like you do—after all, Jumba is with the-_"

"_Never _mention that _idiot _in the presence of my ears _again_!" Hamsterveil's sudden shout scared Lilo, and also something else. In the background, Lilo heard a slight growl of some kind, and possibly even a small roar. She turned his head and leaned in; her ear close to stitch's mouth. His eyes rolled oddly.

"_…Sorry._" Phase apologized bitterly. "_Look, forget I brought it up, I don't even really care. I'm just doing this for the amplifier—whether those two find out where you are or not doesn't concern me._" Hamersveil cackled loudly, causing Lilo to flinch away.

"I would be _glad _if they came—it would give me a chance to give Achie-baba Kino some exercise! After all, he's _ten times _what 626 is; _let him come! _I'm ready for that no-evil, little…" Hamsterveil's frustrated grunts lingered for a moment then subsided.

"_They _will _find you_!" Lilo's eyes bulged; it was Angel. "_It won't be that hard_! _And once they get here, they'll_ thrash_ this stupid thing_!"

"_Kino, shut her up_!" Phase yelled. Lilo heard Angel grunt a few times, and then it fell silent. That was the last straw for her, and she forgot what Stitch had warned her earlier.

"Angel!" She yelled.

"Who was that?" Hamsterveil came sharply.

"_Eavesdroppers—their listening in on us, I'd prepare for a-_" Phase's words were cut short, as Stitch yanked his claw from the port in the computer's rear. Lilo winced, realizing her mistake.

"Sorry Stitch…" She apologized.

"Naga. Stitch yell too…if Stitch was able." He admitted.

"Do you know where they're heading?" She asked curiously. Stitch put a hand to his chin and turned toward the computer, tapping in calculations. A few moments later, he pointed to the screen. Lilo leaned in—there was a picture of a star system, and zoomed in on a separate section was the picture of a planet, with a description of that planet in another separate section.

"Agubada; a planet made entirely of water…was once used as a gas station for ships, but when the fuel supply ran out, it was completely abandoned." Lilo read. She stared at the picture another time; the planet was shrouded in a thick layer of clouds, and she wondered if that was an old picture or a new one. "Glad I changed." She commented.

"Eh." Stitch agreed. Lilo looked at the description again, but didn't read it; she was thinking. She began to think aloud.

"…There's another Achie-baba Kino?"

"Stitch thinks so…" He replied. Both of them were feeling the same thing—a small bit of distant terror. Over time, the memories had faded into a cold a stone of the past, but ultimately the picture was clear: they would have to rescue Angel, and to do so, they would have to get through a second Achie-baba Kino. The worst part was, Hamsterveil was right; Achie-baba Kino was much stronger than Stitch—they had just barely defeated the last one, and this one was supposed to be even stronger.

"Do you think we'll beat it again?" Lilo asked, looking into Stitch's eyes.

"Have to." He said, but far too lightly to change the mood. "Otherwise…" He couldn't finish. _"What is Angel being used for…why does Hamsterveil want her? To trap me…that's why. It's just like before…"_

"It's just like before." Lilo stated. Stitch looked at her; she showed a little bit of frustration on her face. "…I want to help…somehow. I know you can beat him on your own…but I want to be able to help…at least a little bit." She said. "…I wish I was like you—strong and fast and smart. Maybe if _I _could lift three-thousand times my own weight I'd be helpful…otherwise I'd just get in the way."

"Hamsterveil not expect Lilo to be like Stitch." He said with a laugh, imagining how odd _that _scenario would be.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "We'd trick him _bad_! Kind of like how we had to trick everyone into thinking we were each other when we switched bodies." Lilo commented. Stitch's mind clicked; her comment made something in the back of his head start to think curiously—the intriguing part of his brain that brought forth ideas and concepts from almost out of nowhere.

"Swap bodies…" He said, thinking.

"Yeah…except I don't know what good that would do, seeing as how that would only make him think I'm you, which doesn't do us anything." Stitch didn't hear a word she said.

"Lilo, help Stitch. Need to find body-swap blaster, and hurry." He told her, and dove into the pile of junk near the window.

"The body swapping blaster?" Lilo looked around, scanning the room. She had no idea what he wanted it for, but it seemed like he was in his curious state of ingenuity. She began to search the room as well, trying to think of where it was. "I know I saw it—Pleakley was in here cleaning and I saw him put it in a box."

"Oh gubadja!" Stitch extolled sarcastically, appearing from the mountain of junk, throwing his arms into the air. He dropped them. "Lots of boxes." He stated, his tone flattening.

"Hey give me a break! That was like, a week ago, and I can barely remember what I had for breakfast!" Stitch threw an object arbitrarily into the air, and it landed on Lilo's head. "Hey! I remember!" She exclaimed, rubbing her noggin. She ran to the closet in the back of the room and opened the door; Stitch followed diligently.

"Up there, top shelf, that box." She pointed. Stitch took a standing bound and plucked it from the shelf, landing with a loud, wooden _thump_. He walked to the center of the room and dropped the box, opening it with haste and sifting through it like a greedy pirate. He pulled out the gun with a cry of relief; the blurry rainbow of objects settled to a stop behind his head.

Immediately he went back to the computer, and began ticking away at the keys expertly. He worked as though he knew exactly what he were doing; he brought up a file, which Lilo couldn't see the context of through his big head, and began fidgeting with the little purple blaster, mumbling idly to himself while sparks and glows of different colors appeared. Then, upon completion, he turned in the chair, hopped to the floor, and stepped up to Lilo.

"Hold still." He told her, and took her right hand with his left. She had no time to react; the next second, Stitch aimed the gun at his stomach and pulled the trigger. He removed the blaster to reveal a light green dot the size of a penny where the barrel had connected. The dot then began to glow, and quickly an aura of jaded light surrounded them. When it faded, Lilo scowled.

"Stitch! You could have asked me first! What did you do? I'd better not turn into some kind of monster!" Stitch said nothing, but walked back to the computer. "Answer me! You did something—that green light can only mean something bad. What'd you do?" Stitch grabbed the computer, and held it up to Lilo. She glanced at the screen and took the computer from his hands, which felt oddly light in her grasp.

She stared at the screen; her eyes moved past entire pages of hundreds of strings of mathematical symbols, numbers and equations that she had never seen before in her life—she understood them all. Her mouth dropped, and she handed the computer back to Stitch's open arms.

"Understand now?"

"…I shouldn't." She replied, her tone dull due to bewilderment. Stitch set the computer back, and then took Lilo's shoulder.

"Oketaka, Stitch explain." He told her. He grabbed her by the waist with both his hands, and picked her up, and then, without warning, threw her to the ceiling. She screamed with surprise, and held her hands palm-open in front of her. She felt her body impact the ceiling, her feet and hands pressing against the surface, and then expected to feel the lurch of a fall. But she didn't.

She opened her eyes, which were closed tightly with fear, and stared at where she was. Her eyes wandered from the roof in front of her, to the roof away from her. She looked down at her hands—they were adhered to the surface. She stumbled, disoriented, and looked down, which was up to her. She felt as though she was going to drop, but she didn't.

"Stitch! I don't like this anymore! What did you do to me?" She snapped, shivering a little.

"Naga worry. Lilo like Stitch." Her head arched back, and she stared at him upside-down.

"Like…you?" He nodded. Slowly she dropped her fear, and dropped the disoriented feeling, taking a few breaths. She backed away from the ceiling, her arms trembling and her toes growing cold. Slow, painstakingly slow, she inched herself to a stand, all the while afraid that she was going to suddenly slip off the surface. "I'm…standing…on the _ceiling_!" She exclaimed, looking at Stitch in front of her on the floor.

"Eh." Stitch reached out a hand up to her, his right, and she grabbed it with her left. Cautiously she let go of the surface with her bare feet, and fell into his catch.

"I have your powers?" He nodded, and let her stand. "So I'm fast, and strong, and smart, and I can lift three-thousand times my own weight? Blutt-proof, fire-proof and all that?" She asked to confirm.

"Uh…naga."

"No? I thought I had your powers."

"You and I share powers; we can only lift one-thousand-five-hundred times. We're fire and bullet _resistant_…you get it now? It's halved" Lilo blinked.

"Uh…Stitch, are you feeling ok?"

"Yes, why?"

"…Ju ishkataga igasata…gabitcha miga ishka…gabitcha lechooga?" Her voice sounded flustered

"Relax, relax." Stitch said, holding up a palm. "It's just the intelligence part. No need to be alarmed."

"You're speaking perfect English." She said flatly. "It's strange."

"Actually no, you're mind—sharing my power—is translating for you."

"…Sorry but it doesn't sound right." She said with a slanted mouth. "…What else can I do…?" She asked curiously, blinking her eyes. "Night-vision…infrared…ultraviolet…_cool _you've got X-ray!"

"I do?" Lilo laughed, blinking it off. Stitch smiled.

"Do I have four arms now, too?"

"Uh…I wouldn't try that." He warned. "Although we're sharing power, we don't share the same genetic flexibility. My body is designed for alteration…yours however has to stay distinct."

"Oh…well…ok…so why did you give me your powers again?" She asked, making her vision zoom in and out on his mouth.

"I have a plan. It's like you said—throw something at Hamsterveil he's not expecting. You're it. …Stop playing around." He told her with a chuckle.

"Sorry. So what're the details?"

"I'll explain on the way, we've wasted a lot of time. If we leave now we can get there before he has much time to trace us, especially since we'll be in such a small ship."

"Oh, the _red _one?"

'Yes, the _red _one." He replied with a wink.

"Shotgun!"


	10. Agubada

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 10: Agubada

"Hyperdrive activated—it's going to be a bumpy ride." Stitch warned to Lilo. She took his implied advice and hooked the seatbelt around her shoulders and waist. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever-" Lilo's words were cut as her heart leaped to her throat, pulsing and throbbing in her neck and temples while she gripped the handles of her seat. Even with Stitch's powers she still didn't travel in Hyperdrive very well. The ship's speed decelerated slowly, and Lilo relaxed as they reached the calm point of the jump.

"You know, come to think of it, Phase was using the Hyperdrive system on the ship she was traveling on," Stitch brought up, "why didn't she just teleport to Agubada?" Lilo came out with an answer almost immediately, slightly surprised at her quick assumption.

"She has a limited range; her antennae direct where she ends up, and the more complicated the teleportation, the less accurate she is. I'm pretty sure she's not able to teleport a whole ship, also."

"Taking the safe route." Stitch commented, gazing out at the stars. "There it is—Agubada." Stitch pointed into the vacuum; Lilo followed his finger. A fairly large sphere with a white, cottony texture could be seen rather far off in the distance. A star identical to the one surrounding earth lighted it.

"The whole planet is in one, giant cloud…" Lilo commented, as the sphere grew steadily larger.

"We're landing on it—somewhere." Stitch flipped a few controls. "Take the navigations system and guide me to a landing." He spoke more with a request than a command.

"I'd be ready for something if I were you." Lilo warned. "When we came to rescue _you _from Hamsterveil, he had a fleet of sentinels attack the ship."

"I'll keep an eye out." He confirmed. "But there's one other thing before we land: the plan."

"I'm interested to hear it." She told him, while monitoring her other task.

The red ship came silently through the thick canopy of clouds. The planet was nothing like Lilo was expecting. Of course she knew it was composed of water, but the extreme plainness of the flat, oceanic covering, which seemed completely smooth from horizon to horizon, just didn't fit to her liking. It needed an Island; a Hawaii.

There was also a distinct lack of lighting. The omnipresent canopy seemed dreary and uninviting; not a sparkling ray of sunshine filtered through in the smallest way. The word "abandoned" wasn't used lightly in the synopsis of the planet, it seemed.

The ship made its way to a tall, slender pillar, composed of metallic material that dully glimmered, barely giving any contrast against the deep blue of the planet's aquatic body. It also contained several levels of horizontal disks that protruded from the pillar's body at even increments. The synopsis of the planet labeled the pillar as a docking station for refueling ships and transferring cargo. Hamsterveil obviously had a different use for it.

There were no signs of a sentinel fleet, no recognition of their presence, nor any recognition of residence on the pillar for that matter. But the blips that marked Phase and Angel on Jumba's computer distinctly directed them to that petite appendage in the middle of the giant ocean.

"This is more than what I'd ever hope for," Lilo commented as the ship landed, "I know exactly where Angel is." The hatch to the cockpit opened, and Stitch hopped out, walking to the other side, extending his right hand to Lilo. She took it, allowing him to gentlemanly aide her out, while she continued with her pleased words. "I can have her out of here in no time."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stitch's automatically translated voice asked. Lilo sensed the slight undertone of doubt; he told her in the ship that the plan was too loose, and he'd rather have a chance to think it over, but there wasn't any time; they had wasted too much figuring out where to land. The plan had holes; places where things were expected to be extempore, and mainly those holes laid in Stitch's part of the plan.

"I really should be the one asking that…" Lilo said with a sudden, deep concern. "I know there might be surprises waiting for me, but you've got the biggest threat to worry about." She suddenly found her arms wrapping under his, in a hug.

"I'm more worried about you though—I didn't even ask if you wanted to do this." He hugged her back comfortingly, trying to quell his own anxiety. "…If you get a second thought and don't want to go with the plan, I'll understand. All you've got to do is touch my left palm with your right." He told her, letting her go.

"I know." She said. "The same goes for you, too; if you think you need your powers back, don't hesitate to take them." She finished with an averring tone. "Otherwise," she continued, "I'll do my best to get your Angel back safely." She smiled and scratched his head. He came back with a response and a look that almost made her want to abort the plan then and there.

"I want you back safely, too." She turned, her posture pretending she heard nothing, but her face showing recognition.

"C'mon," she told him recomposing herself, "it's now or never. And I'm getting anxious; that performance I did last night is nothing compared to the performance I have to do now." She told him unnecessarily as she began running toward the center of the horizontal disk they were on, toward a door that lead inside the pillar.

Stitch ran ahead, gesturing insistence that he take the lead, into the belly of the structure. Internally, the structure was more spacious than they anticipated. Stitch and Lilo estimated that roughly thirty-five to forty ships of Jumba's proportions could fit inside the section of the level they were currently in alone. However, the blueprints Lilo managed to pull up forewarned them that there were multiple hangers on each level; it was almost a labyrinth—the perfect place for a base. But the main question on their mind as they ran through the roomy sections of docking bays was _why _Hamsterveil had chosen such a place. They knew there was more to this than met the eye; Stitch's instinct thriving in both of them found that blatantly obvious.

Stitch ran cautiously, leading Lilo through labyrinth of the unknown metal that the structure was composed of. Their eyes were gleaming emerald, as they saw everything in the dark, but they were bothered more by what they did not see; the absence of a challenge made them more on edge than the thought of the challenge arriving. Where was Achie-baba Kino? Was it waiting in the darkness? No. There wasn't a need, unless Hamsterveil was not entirely confident that his creation could take on Stitch with ease.

After what seemed like the distance of miles, they arrived at the central section of the level, where the blueprints on the ship had displayed a channel with an elevator capable of going both up and down to any floor. Though Stitch saw it as a large risk—they were trapped in a small area, and they could easily be rendered helpless.

"_Why am I so cautious?" _He asked himself, taking a deep breath as he pressed the button on to summon the elevator. _"There's something wrong, something we're not expecting. I know I'm right. That plan is as good as irrelevant as soon as we step inside." _They did as soon as the doors opened.

"Level 73." Lilo told him; he pressed the button. The elevator lurched, a light turning on above their heads. "This place is eerie." She commented, blinking off Stitch's granted night-vision. "And not the mummies and werewolves and ghosts kind of eerie…"

"It's just quiet, don't worry. Besides, I have a feeling the silence won't last too long."

"That's weird; I was thinking the same thing. You get the feeling there's something out-of-place too, don't you?" Stitch nodded. "I wonder if I'm sharing your emotions too. You're feeling…" she tried to sound as specific as possible, "anxious, and a little jumpy aren't you?"

"A little bit." He admitted, though his voice suggested more.

"I wonder if I can read your mind too…"

"You can try, but I'll-"

"Deny everything I say?" She interrupted, the words coming to her spontaneously.

"No." He said, trying to sound convincing. "Ok, yes." He corrected, relaxing a little. "But interrupting a sentence is easy. Besides, can't you already read my mind anyway? It seems like you're able too…"

"Pretty much." She replied cheerfully; indirectly was intending to relax him, and was glad he didn't notice that. "You can't hide _anything _from me." She boasted, rubbing his head. The elevator lurched around them, causing Lilo to lose her balance. Stitch caught her by the shoulder and let go as she steadied herself.

Behind her, the elevator doors began to open. Their creaking and groaning resonated in the stomachs of the passengers, bringing back the odd, quiet feeling about the structure. Stitch put a finger to his lips and stepped outside, and signaled not to turn her night-vision on, as it would give them away when they entered the next few hangars.

Slowly, cautiously they passed through the dark, slipping like phantoms across the metal floor, the shuffling of their feet muffled by the sheer emptiness of the massive rooms. Through one section, then another; with each passing heartbeat influenced by short breaths and surges of adrenaline they knew they were getting closer to their goal. Their last obstacle arrived; a final open hanger through which there was thirty feet of length they had to cover to reach the center of the room, then thirty more to the far end from there.

But they would go no farther than the first thirty. Expecting, yet unexpected, they fell into their trap—literally running headlong into it. They expected to see the Achie-baba Kino standing ruthlessly before them and half-expected to see Hamsterveil, who was standing on his usual anti-gravity console. But what they had not expected were the nine other extra pairs of emerald-glowing eyes, which surrounded them on all sides as a brilliant set of floodlights illuminated the hanger.


	11. Ten Little Kinoes

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 11: Ten Little Kinoes…

Cicadas chirped outside of the house as a nightly coolness calmly laid itself upon the grass and the leaves and the air all about the silent island of Kauai. The symphony of the night reigned strong and loud, and was only interrupted once, when the guttural sound of churning engine broke the steady harmony like a tremor in the earth.

Nani's foot leaned on the petal with a concentrated effort while she tried to keep herself from gunning the rest of the way to the house. A speeding ticket would only make her angrier, and she actually wanted to be generally nice to Lilo when she got home. There was some kind of uncertainty in Cobra's voice when he had called roughly an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes earlier, that made her wonder if he had all his facts straight. After all, when it came to Cobra, things could get a bit…strange.

The truck's noise was abruptly cut as she turned the key, and she uttered a small, frustrated gasp as she nearly tripped in her haste to get out of the car. She shut the door with such force that the air freshener attached to the rear-view mirror fell as though it was afraid of her bitterness.

"All right Nani, keep your cool. She's only your little sister…" Nani mumbled to herself, walking up the stairs. She knocked twice on the door, but heard no answer. "He's probably checking on them right now. I hope he keeps the little blue wrecking ball from blowing up my room." She said to herself, unlocking and opening the front door. "Hello! I'm-" She felt a scream of surprise bounce around her throat, but it didn't find its way out. She gathered her nerves and rushed to the phone, and smashed the emergency numbers.

Meanwhile, at least 600 light-years away in normal traveling time, on a planet made entirely out of water, inside a massive pillar made of unidentified metal, inside the docking bay set on level 73, more screams inside more throats did not make the journey past the epiglottis.

Stitch and Lilo pressed back-to-back, their mouths slightly open as they were caught in a trap they had blindly, and yet not so blindly, run into. Ten pairs of eyes—twenty eyes in total—all containing a green, slimy, gloss with small, narrow-slit pupils, stared at the two figures in the center of the circle, staring back at them with hidden appall.

"If it isn't 626, and his little earth-pet." Glared the eleventh, less-threatening pair of eyes, which belonged to the genius Dr. Jacques Van Hamsterveil.

"If it isn't the _rat_." Lilo snapped back. Jacques's smile widened.

"I may be a _rat_, but I am not the trapped one. You have such a big mouth, seeing as how you are so weak and fragile. Why don't you let someone talk who's able to back it up—like say, your friend standing right behind you."

"I can take _you _on anytime! All I have to do is-" Stitch turned and put an arm on her shoulder.

"Lilo," he barely moved his lips, his words reaching only Lilo's granted hearing, "don't do anything to give your part away. You've got to slip out unnoticed, remember?" She gave no recognition, but he knew she understood because she backed against him, playing like she was suddenly afraid, and wanted to hide behind him.

"I thought so!" Hamsterveil snapped. "You might have the guts, under normal circumstances, but I think it's clear you are in no position to be threatening me."

"Shagashu basa!" Stitch commanded, trying to guard Lilo on all sides. "Leave Lilo out. Isa miga ju quiesa."

"I see…you are wishing to cut to the chase, no?" Hamsterveil rubbed his hands together.

"What do you want with Angel?" Lilo shouted, peeking behind her blue bodyguard.

"624? Why, I need her. She is most effective when it comes to making things evil—look about you. All these Kinoes made on such short notice because of her abilities." He snickered. "Did you know evil makes things a little…stronger, 626?" He asked rhetorically.

"Nagaba." Stitch snapped. The Kinoes around them seemed not to move, which made him feel more at ease. However it was slowing them down—those Kinoes would have to attack for them to pull through.

"Really? I was so sure you knew by now. When I saw that power for the first time, I realized how badly I needed it. You know exactly what kind of power I'm talking about; the power where you lose control? You should be very familiar with it, my invention helped you achieve that power once, do you remember?" Stitch glared.

"Don't get angry…" Lilo whispered.

"When Stitch gets through with Kinoes…Hamsterveil next." He declared.

"You want to fight my creations that badly, no? Fine, throw away your chance to not be torn to pieces. Maybe if you're lucky I'll rebuild you with my special technology—provided you still come apart at the seams. However, I won't make this too chaotic; Kino –four through –ten, stand down; –one, -two, and –three, be prepared, but let the experiment make the first move." The dinosaurs abruptly came to life as though they had been turned on.

Seven of them disappeared, some form of stealth technology allowed them to become transparent as though they weren't there; only the slight distortion of light passing through the invisible medium allowed them to be spotted. They backed away toward the wall, and then returned opaque. The three that remained began to move, the lights from above shining off their metal, gleaming brilliantly against the metal walls far in the distance.

"Kinoes naga _touch _Lilo." Stitch stated, stepping away from her. "If touch, whole place going into water."

"Very well." Stitch motioned for Lilo to go to the door, giving her the nod. She knew her part well, though Stitch had only given it to her in brief.

_"As soon as the fight starts, get ready. Wait until Hamsterveil is distracted, or until I'm able to cause a lot of commotion, then leave. Try to slip out as quietly as possible." _Though stealth was going to be hard; Stitch had counted on there being only one Kino in the fight, more than that wasn't foreseen by either of them. She stopped by the control panel to the door, looking at it quickly. It had only two buttons, up and down. She blinked on her granted X-ray; the other control was right on the other side of the wall.

_"Good." _She thought. _"I can do this…I just have to be quick enough." _She stared back at Stitch, who seemed a little different to her, but she couldn't tell in what way. He seemed stable yet uneasy. She almost wanted to run back and give him his powers again, but something about his posture made her check that desire.

She braced against the wall as she saw him crouch, her hand hovering over the button to open the door. If she was quick—and she was, at least for now—she hoped she would be able to hit the button, roll through the tiny rift of the rising door, and then shut it as soon as she was on the other side. Her finger pressed the button; with a growl, Stitch leaped into the air.

Angel worked her hands, trying to break the restraints around her arms. The room she was in was very dark, with the exception of the small, open-vented window that faced toward the oceanic planet. But light was the least of her concerns. Her forearms moved slightly in the restraints, and with a straining groan, she managed to snap the metal like wood.

_"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" _She thought, rubbing the superficial cuts on her wrists. _"Those will sting for a while." _She sat back against the dark wall, underneath the window, the wind from outside blowing through the bars. _"This looks more like a jail cell than a storage cylinder." _She stood up and took a look outside.

Aside from the gloom and overcast, and the top portion of the number "73" written in another language, she couldn't get much of a view from outside. She knew somewhat of where she was; a storage cylinder meant for extra cargo and food supply on level 73 of a docking depot, on a planet whose name escaped her at the moment. She also was aware she was nearly seven meters high above the level's floor.

She went to the door, and felt for a handle. There was none. The door was large and sealed; a handle only on the outside and the lock only there as well. This wasn't a place where the door is supposed to be closed while someone's inside. She was at least thankful for fresh air from outside.

"_I really hope they don't come…_" She said aloud to herself, going back to her place under the window. "_This is so crazy_! _If I have to sing that song _one _more time to make an Achie-baba Kino stronger, I swear there won't be anything anyone can do to stop me from going crazy._" She wiped the sweat off her neck and cheeks.

_"Calm down, Angel." _

"_Ten of them…_ten! _As if one weren't enough. What the heck are they for anyway_? _Whatever happened to Hamsterveil catching experiments; did that get so boring his making his own_?"

_"Calm _down._" _She took a breath, getting a grip. It was a little humid inside the storage cylinder, and she was wondering if she was getting a bit hysterical. Her mind was telling her to get a grip.

"_I wish they didn't have to come. I don't want them to, but they are; if not both of them then at least he will. But there's no way he can fight. Even _one _of those new Kinoes is more than enough for him…_" She closed her eyes. "_I'd hate to say it booch…but it's true._" She let out a deep sigh, relaxing for a moment, then she stood up and slammed a fist against the wall with a scream, her knuckles shaking with a bit of pain.

"_And Phase…_" She hissed lowly. "_She has some nerve. All this time…pretending she was just another newly activated experiment. She came into the house—we even _invited _her to stay the night—and then she goes and does _this! _She tried to play innocent—play our _friend—_ but she was betraying us all along. I'll get her for that when I get out of this thing, if it's the last thing I do._"

_"You did it once too, didn't you?" _Angel shook her head, sitting back down. She'd been talking back and forth with her mind for a while now, and it wasn't doing her much of a favor. Why couldn't it just help her like it did the other day, after Nani talked to her in the kitchen? Now it was just being a nuisance.

"_Yeah…I did._" She admitted to herself. "_And that's why I'm so angry. …But_ _I guess I kind of deserve it. Now I know what it's like—being betrayed by a friend._"

Lilo's heart thudded as she pressed the button and heard the noise of the door shut. She hadn't even seen Stitch's first attack—she couldn't bear to see it. All she could think to do was get to Angel as quickly as possible, and then get Stitch his powers back after that.

She wondered, while running through the metal halls of the labyrinth, if it was Stitch's influence on her that was allowing her to cope with that kind of pressure. She was well aware that Stitch's success relied on her speed, and she somehow felt that without Stitch's mind, she wouldn't have been able to even come to this planet in the first place.

Stitch grunted as he was thrown from the Kino he had latched onto. He landed nimbly on his feet, his landing perfectly balanced. However, he didn't have much of a respite; immediately two of the three Kinoes charged toward him. He dodged the blows that came at him, their sharp talons whispering as they cut through the air, barely nicking him.

It didn't take him long to realize Hamsterveil wasn't joking when he said he would be ripped apart. Though he was designed to be modified, and so in a sense capable of being "dismantled", he wasn't in the mood to be ripped apart by these dinosaurs.

Blurry streaks of barraging blows mingled together as he moved fluidly and accurately, dodging each and every swing while leading the two Kinoes around in a circle. He wasn't quite ready to fight back yet—he wasn't sure if Lilo made it through. He tried to see but a Kino blocked his path. That reminded him that they could turn invisible; cloak themselves at will. He kept that in mind.

Not willing to waste another moment, he bounded over the Kino in front of him, meeting the beast's eyes for a moment as he passed the face. He slid down the monster's back, jumping off at the tip of its tail. He caught a glimpse of where Lilo was; she had left already.

_"Good." _He thought, turning around to calmly block a swing. He retaliated, sending the Kino flying backward, a cloud of dust rising on the impact of its fall. The other one retreated slightly. Stitch relaxed, blinking into the Kino's eyes. _"Sorry Lilo. I'm going to have to break that promise…again. But I've got half my power and no help from Slushy this time—you'll understand, right?" _


	12. Two Betrayals

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 12: Two Betrayals

Angel absentmindedly hummed, but abruptly stopped. It made her a little agitated, as it reminded her of its use some thirty or forty-five minutes ago. She wondered if by now its use was being put to use, against her. It was all relatively a circle—she enhances the Kinoes, which Hamsterveil will use against Stitch, and indirectly used against her as she was the one who augmented them. She drummed her claws against the metal flooring of her cell, her thoughts trying her patience to a fiber.

"_I can't wait in here—I know he's here, and if she is too that just makes it worse. I _have _to get out; I have to find a way. I wish I had Stitch's strength right about now…_" She looked around her cell, looking for a weak point. Gantu had always spoken of Stitch's "weak points" which he was intent on using at some time or another, but she found them to be hardly what he thought. His theories were radically off—except for the drowning aspect, but other than that there was no truth.

However, in her case it would help. He spoke of finding the softest spot; the weakest was where it was softest. But in her case it would not be where it was _softest_, but rather where it wasn't as _solid_. And immediately it dawned on her; what she was looking for had been screaming in the dark all this time. She looked up at the source of the light and air filtering in through the window. She stood and turned to face it, looking up slightly as she was a little shorter than where it was on the wall.

Bars nearly one-and-a-half inches thick crossed it in a netted pattern, leaving nine even squares and many partially cut on the side by the circumference of the circle. The wind blew her face again, making her eyes squint as it agitated them. This was the "soft spot"; the weakest point of the cell. She scaled the wall, putting herself at a comfortable position so she could hold onto the grate with her fingers wedged between the spaces, and strain against the heels of her feet. She pulled, her throat, arms and legs tensing with the force.

Her finger slipped, and she fell, landing hard onto her back, knocking the wind out of her momentarily. As she sat up, a muscle above her waist began to twitch, probably from the strain, she judged. Plan B: she stood in front of the window again, and extended her claws, reaching up to the light. She scratched the edge of one of the bars, expecting to begin a slow and painstaking process, but she found, after a few moments, that the metal was actually harder than her claw, and the only thing she accomplishing was whittling it down to a stub.

Defeated, she sat back down, hugged her knees, and sighed. She had tried, she convinced herself, and she had failed, but she had _tried_. She still felt they were here, even though she constantly wished they weren't. It would only be a matter of time until they got to her—either by themselves or accompanied by ten barbaric dinosaurs. As she saw their eyes in her imagination, she jumped—a noise. Outside the cylinder, someone was moving the latch on the door. Her heart raced with both excitement and alarm. The door opened, and she was blinded, unable to see who was there.

"_I brought what you requested, Gantu. You know she's here; you put her wherever she is now. I'd like to be on my way if you don't mind, and in order to do that I'll need my amplifier._"

"Oh, forgive me." Gantu said, stifling his irritation. "Hamsterveil _said _something about an _amplifier_; I suppose he was referring to _you_ when he was speaking of it."

"_Yes, I believe so too._" She replied, feigning patience. "_And I really hope you know where this amplifier is—I merely had his word and I expect it to have more meaning to it and not just a bunch of air. I warn you; I can take you out of this planet's atmosphere and into that cold vacuum, so I'd better have it or some extra reassurance._" She demanded.

"All right, all right, I'll get you the amplifier."

"_Thank you, Gantu. I'll get out of your…uh…hair, then._" He beckoned her to follow him; she kept in reasonable pace behind, but didn't get too close. There was some instinctive feeling in Phase that told her to keep her eye out for surprises.

Gantu led her down the small hallways just barely big enough for his proportions. A while into the process it seemed like a long walk to get to the amplifiers, either that or Gantu was lost, or he was deliberately trying to confuse her. If he was, it was working. The halls were constantly intersecting; an anthill of a network connected two long strings of hallways in possibly fifteen different sections. If there were any that were _not _touching they would be hard to find.

"_Look Gantu, we can do this two ways; either you stop wandering in circles or I just teleport. Pick one._"

"Pipe down, trog. I didn't sign up to take you to the amplifiers."

"_Do you even _know _where they are_?"

"Of course I do. I'm the one that had to get some of the parts for them after all." They crossed a few more hallways, turning left and right almost arbitrarily, and then suddenly they came upon a room with a few set computers and a small worktable.

It was fairly medium-sized. Phase estimated it to be about as big as the living room and the kitchen combined in that primitive living shelter on earth, without the unnecessary furniture. Gantu proceeded into the room; Phase followed him, trying to get to his side, but he wouldn't allow her to.

"You've done a very good job, 600." He spoke with a very empty tone, and walked to the table, and fidgeted with a container of some sort, popping off its lid and dumping its contents into his palm. "Hamsterveil and I thank you for your work." He looked back, the corners of his mouth arcing downward. "Unfortunately, you do such good work; we can't allow you to leave." Phase immediately saw it coming, but wasn't quick enough.

With a loud snap, two small devices were violently pinned on Phase's antennae. She attempted to swirl the gravity around her, defensively reacting to get away, but there was something hampering her function; she couldn't control her power. She pulled at the small wafers on her head, which now sharply stung with pain, but her hands were ripped away almost before she even touched them. In a few, swift seconds, her arms were locked inside braces, and a blaster was held to the back of her head, the low whistle of a ready charge resonating through its barrel.

"I wouldn't do anything hasty, if I were you."

"Who…who's there?" Angel asked, her eyes watering from the abrupt flare of light, dull as it was. But as her eyes adjusted she still didn't see anyone. "Either I'm dreaming or this is a trap…"

"No trap." Angel flinched back as Lilo spoke, and appeared from below the bottom of the door. "It's your rescue!"

"L…Lilo?" Angel put a hand up to block the light to see her face.

"You were expecting maybe The Blue Wonder?" Came the girl's cheery, rhetorical question. Angel, however, sensed the undertone in it. Something was bothering Lilo.

"Actually yes…" Angel said, walking forward.

"Well, sorry, he's a bit occupied at the moment, but he's sent his assistant just for you." She said with a smile, stretching out her hand.

"Oh really?" Angel asked, grasping the offer. "And what has him so occupied that he had to send his _assistant _to rescue me?" She finished with a sarcastic tone of disappointment.

"Well, he's kind of taking on two or three of those Achie-baba Kinoes." Lilo replied, going along with the sarcasm. Angel still heard the undertone of worry—Lilo wanted to get back to him and badly.

"Well, I suppose that's a good enough excuse."

"Tch, _hardly_!" Lilo continued with sarcasm, letting out a laugh let out a laugh. Angel stepped forward, leaning out of the doorway. It was just then she remembered something very critical about her cell—the only way to get to it was to be very tall, or by aide of some lifting machine, and there was none. The only thing present was the sleek pole itself, which, from floor-level to her feet, was about seven meters off the ground.

"Um…Lilo, can I ask you something?" The girl looked back with response. "…How exactly did you get up here?"

"I climbed." She replied simply, and in the same manner, jumped with a whimsical grace.

"_Lilo!_" Shouted Angel, her heart skipping a beat; she paused at the door, unable to jump while she saw Lilo recede into the distance…and land. "What the…?" Angel looked down at the pole again, estimating the length. If anything it seemed more like thirty meters high.

"What's the matter? You afraid of heights?" Angel looked back at the small speck shouting back at her. "I'll catch you if you want me to!" Angel's ears dropped; nothing made any sense.

"I'll climb down thank you." She replied, dropping to catch the pole mid-fall and sliding the rest of the way down. When she got to the bottom, Lilo was by her, and she looked at the innocent smile, trying to figure out if this was real or if that knock she took in the cell was harder than she thought. "All right, something's wrong. There's no way the Lilo _I _know could take a fall like that. Who are you and what have you done with her?"

"I didn't do anything to myself." She replied. "Stitch did it to me." Angel's eyes closed a little. "No, really. Stitch made me stronger—he gave me some of his power." Lilo explained. Angel gave her a look of distrust. "It's _me _Angel, honest—go ahead, ask something only I could know."

"Ok…" Angel said, thinking. "What color are our pendants?" Lilo smiled.

"That's easy. Yours is white; Stitch's is green; mine is red."

"…Not good enough for me. Lilo knows what the colors mean; do you?"

"Green was for promise and hope; red was for determination; white was for," she paused, "you know…we never really came up with one for yours. We'll have to do that when we get back." Angel gave her one more glance, and then smiled.

"You really want to get back to help Stitch out, don't you?" She said with a soft tone.

"…Yeah." She replied, hers changing to worry.

"All right, I'll follow you." Lilo nodded, and ran toward the entrance of the hallways. She followed through the halls that meandered and deviated almost arbitrarily, up until she paused, which made Lilo turn back with concern.

"What is it?" Angel looked at her, her eyes flat.

"I smell a rat." She replied.

"Phase?" Lilo sniffed the air. She wasn't aware of it, but she was able to smell different things distinctly, yet it seemed muffled. Perhaps that was the limitation of half the power. "You're going to go after her aren't you?"

"And when I find her—"

"Angel." Lilo said calmly, in response to Angel's cold tone. Angel seemed to relax a little bit. "I know it's hard, but even though she did do what she did…"

"I know…I know, I'm sorry."

"Good. Because, after all, we forgave _you_."

"Yeah," Angel said, letting out a sigh, "and now I got a taste of it."

"You won't do anything extreme will you? Promise?"

"I promise." Angel said with meaning. Lilo smiled, and quickly hugged her, bidding her good luck in a whisper before she turned and darted off. _"I promise…I won't hurt her…too much." _


	13. Fate of the Traitor I

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 13: Fate of the Traitor (I)

"Keep moving." Phase felt the blaster push against her back. She walked forward, her pace wary, as she had a blindfold covering her eyes. The pinch of the wafers atop her head was a constant reminder that she was unable to use her powers, so long as they were attached to her. With their magnetic disruption, no impulse could be sent from her brain. In a sense, she was paralyzed.

_"What a fine mess you've gotten yourself into." _She thought, shifting her arms to circulate the blood. _"This is what you get for trusting a rat." _She felt the blaster tap her right shoulder, Gantu signaling the turn in the hallway. "_So where am I headed, off the ledge and into the water_?" She asked bitterly.

"Very funny." Gantu said, amused. "No, you're much too valuable for us. We'll be taking you to see your friend." He told her.

"_I'm not very useful for you if I can't teleport._" She commented.

"Oh you'll be able to slip into that Tetra-space, or whatever you call it—we'll just be controlling you. You see, you are going to get an amplifier—one that will allow us to control your power for our own benefits." He tapped the blaster on her left shoulder. "Uncomfortable?"

"_Very._"

"Good." Silence took over. Phase listened to the sound of her nails clacking against the metal floor; with each click her anger and frustration steadily rose. She had been played this whole time—set up from the beginning. The only thing that was hurt now was her ego; things would only go from bad to worse for her. "Hey, what are _you _doing out!"

Phase's eyes turned to Gantu's voice; she forgot she was blindfolded. She felt the gun lift from her shoulder, and heard it fire once, which made her turn her body, desperate to move, as she was afraid she would somehow get hit accidentally. Who was Gantu shooting at?

Another shot was heard, far away from Phase's hearing. It sounded like the confrontation was taking place a ways down the hall. There was rustling—either Gantu's clothes as he moved, or blows were being exchanged. She heard grunts of contact, but only from Gantu. It almost sounded like he was fighting with himself rather than another person.

Phase moved forward, away from the wall, wishing she could see what was going on—from the sounds of it Gantu appeared to be losing. A soft clack, followed by a louder one that echoed through the hallways as Gantu roared with pain; three more loud clacks, then a skidding sound that ended as quickly as it had started—Gantu had been disarmed. Two more yells from the whale, and Phase heard a fleshy clutter, and assumed he'd been knocked unconscious.

Silence; Phase twitched her ears, listening, and stepped a few more paces away from the wall. A click, and then another; they came slowly, calmly, and echoed, coming closer to Phase. Footsteps—she would be cut free from the braces and the blindfold. A sigh of relief escaped her. Whoever her Samaritan was, he or she was certainly silent about coming to her aide.

The clicking paused. For a moment, silence came. What was the person doing? Didn't the person _see _her? Why did the person stop? Another noise came; a scraping noise, metal against metal, and then the footsteps. Phase suddenly felt a shiver ripple through her back, and the pulse of her heart felt heavier as a slight, instinctive panic took her over. The footsteps crossed her; the person passed her, and then went behind her. She felt the circular head of the blaster press against her head, and immediately her breath went erratic.

"_Keep moving._" Her face froze; a sweat trickled down her neck. This was no Samaritan, this was no rescuer; if anything she wished _Gantu _would wake up—right now he was as good a rescuer as any. No, she was not rescued; she was merely passed on from one captor to another. However, her present captor was infinitely more dangerous to her than her previous one: Angel.

Stitch's arms quivered as he held an Achie-baba Kino's talons above his head, stopping them from slamming down on him, resisting the Kino's force, which was aided also by gravity. He realized he was wasting his strength in resisting, and as his anger grew so did his awareness of such minor details.

He gave, intentionally, and allowed the Kino to pin him down—it wouldn't be fore long. The Kino could not stop its motion in time; just as the maximum force of the Kino's attack was attained, Stitch rolled on his back, kicking his feet into the Kino's metal chest, and using the dinosaur's own force against him, threw the Kino back into the wall. Stitch was on his feet again.

The second and third Kino struck from both sides, their talons reaching to grab Stitch by the arms; he dodged one, and flipped up onto the other, then, facing the other Kino, jumped across the arms and ran up the one who he had merely dodged, and latched onto its face. The Kino, its computing function obviously lacking common sense, struck at Stitch, who moved away just as the Kino slammed down on its own skull. Electricity fluttered about its body for a moment, and then it remained still.

"One down, nine to go." Hamsterveil chimed confidently. "I hope your friend is enjoying her…" He looked over to where Lilo was. "Hey! Where did she go?" Hamsterveil struck his anti-gravity pod.

"Rescue Angel." Stitch replied curtly. Hamsterveil's eyes curiously squinted at the blue experiment as he turned his head back to face the fight.

"You don't say…" He spoke rhetorically, tapping his pod. "Kino-ten; after her, Kino-four; join –one and –three!" The rodent barked.

"Hamsterveil promised not to _touch _Lilo, recaba?" Stitch hissed, the fourth Kino running into the fray.

"Oh, but you've changed the rules, 626, so I will change them as well. As long as she is inside here, she will be safe. Out there…" He looked toward the door as Kino-ten tore through it. "Well, let's hope she can run. Maybe I'll keep her as a ransom for the Council."

"Ju _rataka!_" Stitch barked, rage taking him over. All three Kino's beset him; he caught two, and missed the third—yelling with not pain, but anger, as he was thrown to the floor a few meters away. He landed, crouching, his feet, a knee, and hand skidding on the metal, his claws carving trenches as he slowed. "Naga simpasha." He growled, his dark eyes reflecting the flames of rage inside him.

Phase felt the cool, gentle wind blow from her left as she stepped through the door leading to the outer portion of the level. She continued to walk, the barrel of the blaster pressed against the small of her back, and stopped upon Angel's second command.

"_On your knees_." Phase blindly followed the order; her shins hurt uncomfortably under the weight of her body and the hard surface of the metal. "_I don't think I need to tell you how I feel, do I_?" Phase didn't respond; it was rhetorical. "_I have to admit, you really caught me off-guard. You're a good actor Phase; have you been playing the part ever since you first ran into me_?" Phase took a moment to answer.

"_I did._" She confessed. "_We were actually going to stage the whole experiment-capture thing. Lilo was supposed to do her bit; find my 'One, True place' and all. I was supposed to find out where you were using Jumba's computer—but seeing as how you were with them, that eliminated that portion of the plan…and complicated others._" Phase spoke without a distinct tone, merely relaying facts through explanation.

"_Well, regardless, I commend your acting. You persuaded me into thinking you were actually a friendly experiment. How wrong I was._" She said with a laugh, flooded with a distinct type of hatred. The wind blew a bit harsher, as if to emphasize Angel's tone. "_And look where you've ended up for such acting—betrayed by the very person you were working with. I'll bet you feel pretty stupid right now._" Phase grit her teeth; Angel was right. "_I see._" Phase heard Angel as she fidgeted with the blaster.

"_You know, Phase,_" Angel's voice continued among the fidgeting and wind, "_Stitch and I are very good—with blasters, I mean._" She paused, and then continued, Phase knew she was looking at the fear on her face. "_He has an amazing accuracy rating. I believe its 89.94. But you know…I'm a much better shot._" Angel tapped the blaster.

"_You don't say._" Phase said; her voice dry and quiet.

"_Oh, I don't mean to brag, but…I believe I have a 99.99762._" Phase heard the blaster clutter sharply; it was being aimed. "_I can hit a target the size of your nose from three-hundred feet away. Imagine how much sharper that is, when the target is only a few feet._" The crescendo of charging plasma hit Phase's ears. "_You have fifteen seconds to convince me that you're still a friend—starting now._"

"_…What can I say_?" Phase asked with a noticeable quaver. "_'I'm sorry?' I can't tell if you're vengeful or crazy…but either way I don't care. I'm sorry though—I really am._" She took in a breath, held it, and exhaled, adrenaline taking over her fear as the rest of the seconds passed slowly.

"_Time's up._" Angel ringed; her voice half-interrupted by the sound of shooting plasma. Phase's scream was caught by the wind.


	14. Resurrection of Trust

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 14: Resurrection of Trust

"Where the _heck _am I _going?_" Lilo spun around in an intersection, lost in the labyrinth. She was trying to follow her scent back to where she started but somehow she lost track of where she was going and wound up walking in zigzags, circles and passing places she knew all too well and yet didn't know. "I think my nose is broken…" She moaned to herself, pushing a finger against a nostril, causing her voice to alter.

"Ok Lilo, think. Remember the blue-prints." She glanced around. "…I'm lost." Taking a deep breath she walked to the wall, and with her finger, she carved a small triangle, which pointed down one of the halls. She pulled her finger out of the beveled metal and blew the specs off. "There." She said with satisfaction. "Now if I pass this arrow again, I'll know I went in a circle. Or…wait a minute…wasn't it in a maze…" She snapped her fingers. "That's it! Now I remember—always follow the right wall and you'll end up where you want to be…eventually." She slammed her right hand against the respective wall, causing more damage to the metal, and began walking.

"Well Stitch, this'll take forever…but I'll get to you, don't worry." She sighed again as she continued walking; briskly, quickly, gradually speeding up. A few minutes passed, and it seemed like she wasn't going fast enough. "Maybe if I ran like Stitch I'd be faster…but then I won't be able to keep track of the wall I'm on. Unless…" Experimentally, she put her palms against the wall, and then, kicking off her sandals, she proceeded to put her feet against it as well. She took a few steps up the wall until she was halfway between the ceiling and floor, and with a slight vertigo from disorientation, she braved to a run.

"Hey…this is kind of cool." She said, as she almost magnetically clung to the wall. When she came to her first corner, she rounded it as though it were a flat piece of road, and continued, meandering left and right—or down and up—as she sprinted on hands and feet, which felt uncomfortable. Eventually, she changed to running on two feet, which she quickly realized was much faster still.

Her hair flowed between the forces of gravity and the forces of wind speed; swishing up and down—or right and left—but mostly staying to her left—or down—as she ran with full confidence in her ability to adhere to the surface of the slick, metal wall.

"I could get used to this." She commented, rounding corner after corner, step after step. Eventually, she passed the wall she had engraved with an arrow and her palm print, but she had no time to stop and admire—Stitch was waiting! And, unexpectedly, she found that she, too, was being waited upon. When she rounded the next corner, running at such great speed, she didn't see the dark, bulky object in time for her to duck, dodge, or by any other means avoid. She fell to the floor after smacking into it, and proceeded to apologize, until she stared up into its deep, glazed, emerald-green eyes.

Phase's heart skipped a beat, and her throat locked up for a moment; the fear of the noise sent her into a panic, and she braced for the impact of the bullet. She felt the smoldering plasma approach her head, but she didn't move. Its heat grazed across her face, just behind her eye, and finally she felt the charge pass below her ear, and heard it collide with the ground a small distance behind her.

She didn't move, her breath locked in her legs and body shifted slightly with the beating of her heart. The blindfold softly fell onto the ground to reveal her glossed eyes staring wide with a mix of disbelief, panic, and fear. There was a pause of silence, the wind blowing softly. She gazed at Angel blankly; the dark eyes behind the barrel of the blaster glared darkly, and then softened. The blaster trembled as she lowered it, her eyes beginning to water.

"_I don't _ever _want to have to do that_ again!" Angel shouted, her breath quivering. She threw the blaster behind her, turning on the ball of her foot, and watched as it sailed across the overcastted backdrop until it fell behind the lip of the flooring. She turned back to Phase, the expression of bewilderment still lingered on her face.

"_You…you missed…_" Phase mumbled. "_No…you didn't miss._" She corrected herself, realizing Angel wasn't intending to shoot her."_Why didn't you miss_?_ …You _are _a really good shot…_"

"_I've hardly held a blaster in my life._" Phase's expression slowly went from fearful to relaxed, and she let out a small laugh, realizing what Angel's true intent was. The captor was a rescuer in desguise.

"_You picked a good time to…that really worked. Probably better than you think._" She fumbled with the brace around her hands as she spoke, her words barely over the wind.

"_Here, let me get that._" Angel stepped behind her, and extended a claw, but she found that all of them had been worn down too much from sliding down the pole. "_I guess I need more milk. Ok, hold still, this might sting a bit._"

"_It's better than-_" She let out a painful gasp as the brace was ripped away from her wrists. She stood fully, massaging the slightly bleeding cuts. "_Thanks._"

"_…I had practice._" She replied. Phase's lips curved with guilt.

"_Look…Angel…I don't expect you to understand, but I'm not _really _evil. It's just, Hamsterveil offered to make me an amplifier…_"

"_No excuses._" Angel said, though her tone was light instead of sincere. "_I understand completely. That's why I didn't miss…I knew you were probably doing it for some kind of benefit. I figured that when I saw you being held prisoner. Kind of makes you rethink things when _you're_ the one being betrayed doesn't it_?"

"_Yeah…it does. I'm…I'm sorry._"

"_I know. You made a mistake…it's all right. …I'm guessing those are some kind of disrupters_?" Angel asked, changing the subject and pointing at the wafers.

"_Yeah. For some reason I can't teleport with them on._"

"_Need me to take them off_?"

"_…I could teleport away again as soon as you do. Or, I could be lying—I betrayed you once, who says I won't do it again_?" Angel grasped the wafers and gently freed her antennae.

"_Because I didn't do it again._" She said softly.

"_What_?"

"_Nothing. I just trust you, that's all. Besides, it's your choice if you want to leave, I wouldn't mind. Because if you did, and we met again, you know exactly what I'm capable of._"

"_Maybe a little bit; besides, I can't seem to teleport anyway. There's still some static in the way._" Phase looked at Angel with a curiosity."_But…don't you have some kind of incredible power_? _Every one of us has a power, and Hamsterveil seemed to really want yours…what _can_ you do_?" Angel turned, hiding her face, and walked toward the door that led inside. Phase followed closely, yet comfortably, behind.

"_That's because I can make someone good or evil. He needed me to make his Kino's stronger—robots aren't made to be evil so he needed a way to make them evil._" Phase's eyebrows squinted in the middle; Angel's emotion had completely changed. Not a minute ago she was in the hands of a cold, threatening captor; now she was following a friend who was preparing for something, judging by the tone in her voice.

"_…Maybe I can help. You know, I got to know this place a little bit while I was here—I know where the main computers are. I always saw Hamsterveil entering data and information, if you'd like I can try to get that information to you, and maybe it'll help stop him from making Kino's._" Angel paused, and turned back to face Phase.

"_Are you sure…you want to help_? _You don't have to Phase; you don't need to pay me back for betraying me, if that's what you're thinking about doing. It's not necessary, and I honestly don't like carrying someone's debt._" Phase held up a hand.

"_No…not anything like that. Just call it…a favor. Yeah. It's a favor, for getting me out of it all. Who knows, I might even find some blueprints for that amplifier Hamsterveil promised. Maybe I can get Jumba to make it for me…if Lilo and Stitch will let me go back to the house…that is._" Angel smiled.

"_Lilo's the other half of the reason why I didn't miss. If it wasn't for her…_" Angel's words drifted. "_Don't worry; I'm sure they'll let you. All we want now…is just to go home…it doesn't matter with who, I think we just want to get there in one piece._"

"_All right, then. I'll try to find that data, and if it's anything relevant I'll save it to a disk and give it to you. Hopefully it'll solve this whole problem…from the way you sound, this has been going on for quite a while, I'd guess._"

"_Far too long._" Angel corrected harshly. Phase smiled; the bitterness wasn't directed toward her, she presumed, and so she felt relaxed. "_I have to go help Lilo and Stitch; we'll try to wait as long as we can, but getting away from here is critical. You haven't met Nani yet, and if Lilo is harmed in any way…well, it won't be worth it getting back home at all, really._" Phase heard a small laugh come from Angel; she was joking to calm her nerves. Phase nodded, and passed Angel as she ran down the hall and turned left.

Angel sighed, relieved, and began her walk through the halls as well. She wanted to run but couldn't really find any energy to. Besides, it would be better to relax herself as much as possible—Stitch would need her as strong as she could possibly be when she arrived to help them.

She listened to her own footsteps as she made her way, walking quickly but not running; a small ache just outside of her stomach was beginning to form. She breathed deeply as she walked, trying to calm the ache down. While she progressed, she noticed a small carving on the metal wall, followed by someone's handprint. It was Lilo's, from what she could tell. The only thing she couldn't understand was what it was for.

"Help!" Angel's ears bolted open, and her eyes shot to the direction of the intersection. Lilo's voice, but she couldn't tell from where. There was a crash, a small tremor. Angel began to run, but was hesitant, and unsure of which hallway to use. She had to make the right choice; otherwise she would never find Lilo. Angel closed her eyes, hoping for another noise. It came, and it was the most helpful noise possible: a stentorian scream of either surprise or fear, Lilo's of course.

_"Hold on!" _Angel's eyes squinted as the scream ran in her ears. Her mind began to think, working her element. The sound came from a distance, timely wise, but it was not at all very far away. Angel looked to her left, and darted down the hall—she knew it was the right direction.


	15. Walk, Talk, Think Like A Stitch

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 15: Walk, Talk, Think Like A Stitch

"You wouldn't hit a little girl…would you?" Lilo screamed, her innocent posture barely ducking out of the way before a sharp blow came, and crashed into the ground. Another swipe: miss. Three more, rapidly, too fast for her to see, and yet she dodged them, on impulse; a blur she couldn't understand and yet reacted toward against swift accuracy.

But she wasn't fast enough for a moment, and the blow caught her. She tumbled to the side, quickly rebounding. She clasped her side where contact was made, but only felt the slightest echo of pain, a mere numb flurry of pins and needles beneath her skin. She was afraid, but the Stitch in her wasn't, and it was confidently in control.

The Kino turned to face her, simultaneously attacking, but she jumped to the ceiling of the halls, clinging to the surface. The Kino attempted to follow-up, but couldn't reach her. Adrenaline flooded through her veins; she craned her neck to see the Kino, and when she saw the condition she was in she felt a little safer; a slight respite, a chance to catch her breath—to think.

_"What do I do? What do I do? I can't take on an Achie-baba Kino! I'm not experienced enough." _She crouched against the ceiling as the Kino jumped a little higher than normal, which wasn't entirely necessary, as it still had a few precious inches of reach to go regardless. _"Think Lilo, Think. You can't say you can't; you've got to! But how; that's the question. I've got Stitch's powers, I can use them, but _I _don't know how!" _

She blinked, her eyelids widening with a thought as they quickly opened. She scurried across the ceiling, just as the Kino's claw closed the rift in reach. It chased her—she intended for it to—as she ran upside-down into the halls.

_"_You _can't use the powers, but _Stitch _can—think like Stitch; be like Stitch" _She wasn't sure, but she imagined the Stitch part of her came up with the idea. She felt like it was her idea, but at the same time she felt like that if she hadn't had his mental influence, she wouldn't have been able to conjure such a strategy on her own. _"Who cares just trust it!"_

She rounded the next bend, and then stopped, facing a dead-end. She quickly looked to the Kino behind her, and saw it just as it ran around the edge. Driving on adrenaline and impulse, she dropped to the ground on her hands and one knee, and waited for the Kino to get close. In the flash of a second she responded to the green sparkle of its eye, and jumped back, floating against the dead-end wall behind her, and with Stitch's help, flew from the wall over the Kino's head.

However her plan was cut short. The Kino reacted with unthinkable speed, as though it had predicted her move at the spur of it, and reached up its arms, catching her a little after she passed. Without stopping, it turned with tremendous force, and threw Lilo down the like a lead bowling ball.

"Gotcha!" Lilo felt a soft impact, a bright flicker of white in her eye, and then the abrupt shift in motion as she dropped down. The churning in her head seemed not to subside as she stared up at the pink blur in her vision. "Am I just in time?" It asked, with a laugh.

"Couldn't be any sooner, could you Angel?" She responded, as she was helped up. "I feel like I just went ten rounds on the Pineapple Plunger…" She muttered, clasping her head.

"Nope, I think you just went one round with a Kino. You get your coordination back, I'll take over."

"Angel wait!" Lilo reached for the pink blob's shoulder, but without any perception she only managed to clasp air. The blot of color seemed to float down the hall as it met the dinosaur halfway. There was no pause; immediately the Kino tried to get her, but she was well out if its grasp. In one, swift bound, barely followed by the unfocused eyes of Lilo, Angel jumped left, rebounding off the wall, and landed on the Kino's shoulder. What Lilo heard next, was unexpected.

"Ohudat otuse, alan eot-agan. Atumon atage otuhc otuca." Lilo blinked, her vision returning to normal as she heard the familiar, awkward lyrics of Angel's song, backward. The Kino froze, almost deathly, and Angel slid down from its rigid arms to the ground. She looked back at the Kino, almost with amazement. "It worked." She said with amusement.

"What worked?" Lilo asked, running up to her. Angel kicked the Kino, and even after several moments' pause, there was no response. "…Is it broken?"

"I think I either shut it down or caused a system malfunction." Angel said as she observed the Kino's state.

"How did you know how to do that?"

"I didn't." She shrugged. "I just figured that if I made them evil to make them strong, maybe making them good would make them weak or something." Angel tapped it again, to make sure, but the echo of the metal body seemed to be the only thing that would respond. "Now I know what to do if we run into more."

"Stitch!" Lilo shouted, forgetting all about him. "We've got to get to him! If _I _can't take on a Kino with half of his powers, _he _can't take on a Kino with half his powers."

"All right." Angel said with a nod, assuming command as she ran ahead of Lilo.

A staccato of clashing metal echoed inside the hangar as three Kino's systematically cooperated to fulfill their Creator's command. They would not let the little blue monster get above their heads, and he was aware of that as well, apparently, as he made no intention of executing that strategy, or a similar one, again.

Stitch matched the teamwork of the mechanical dinosaurs with little error in judgment. He made neither irrationality nor miscalculation in his moves and his stance. Barely a blow was blocked by the Blue Wrecking ball, as he acrobatically flew from one Kino to the other, paying careful attention to each one. He knew that he would only have to watch a total of three—no more, no less; four would be too chaotic and would lean more to his advantage, especially in his state of mind at present.

He was not his usual self; where there was once a careful thinker, and cautious mind so as not to harm the opponent he was facing—the experiment-hunter state-of-mind—there was now a different kind of thinker—a different kind of mind. The experiment-hunter would never be able to fight so ruthlessly, for there was never a need for that while hunting a cousin.

But a Kino was different. A Kino was nothing but a machine, a cheap imitation of an experiment—if that's what their creator was going for at all. If not, they were merely cold shells capable only of destruction, such as he once was—such as he was now.

Before the experiment-hunter came along, there was another. It had many names, many identities, but it was only one thing: destruction. Created for it, designed with the capability of it, and the thirst and desire to cause it. But it was banished a long time ago, when the experiment-hunter came along, with only its few identities. However, the havoc-wreaker was back, and in control, but it seemed to have a different desire in its taste for destruction.

626 had once desired the sight of chaos and discord through mischievous and unimaginable methods. And with all the capabilities at his disposal he would have most likely succeeded were they not prevented. Through change and time, and after being the experiment-hunter Stitch for so long, that desire for chaos and destruction had been held back, until now, when it was released; but this time, for the purpose of aiding Stitch.

Both their minds burned; their body tiring and their reflexes dulling. There seemed to be something lacking in their desire for normalcy; in their desire to get away from Agubada and pretend as well as they could that it had never happened. The fuel that drove and controlled his destructive instincts and flexed them toward the purpose of helping him overcome his obstacle was reduced to ashes and kindling now. It would take a very large flare to bring the vitality back.

"Stitch!" The flare. He glanced toward the source of his mentioned name, his vision blurred from a quick blow by a Kino. The pink, and purple-aqua figures ran toward him; another came, not far behind them: a green and unrecognizable wisp. The purple-aqua blotch swept him away, while the green and pink ones jumped to the circle of Kino's. There was a slight ring in the air; something awkward, yet recognizably musical.

The blotches near the Kino's then began to knock them down, and break the machines apart. A tan plop cut off near the bottom by a silver streak began yelling things, commands, and the black puddles against the wall moved with life. The pink, and green smears began to chatter in alarm, and soon with concern as the black puddles ran rather than attacked. They fled through the door, out into a bright, foamy static of light, barely tolerable by unfocused eyes. He was shifted, lifted onto a shoulder.

"They're heading toward the ship!" Echoed a yell.

"_Can you get us there_?" Asked the pink speckle, appearing to face toward him, but not looking at him, as though he was not there.

"_No, I can't, not yet._" The voice was muffled; it was too close, but it was beginning to clear.

"We'll have to take the elevator." A strong voice, one familiar and in command, was heard clearly through his ears. He then felt his weight rising and falling to the heavy beating of running steps, and heard the muffled breathing of tired lungs. He closed his eyes, clearing his head, only now just realizing what was going on. The elevator doors closed, and with the lurch of the elevator he was brought back awake.

"_Are you going to give him his powers back_?" The muffled voice next to him asked.

"_I don't think that's a good idea, he doesn't look like he can take much more. Look at him, he's barely responding._"

"Is he gonna be ok?" The strong, commanding, reassuring voice was now concerned; the embers flickered.

"_He'll have a headache when he wakes up…but I think he'll be fine. Until then, its up to us to keep those Kino's from tearing our ride apart…I hope you didn't bring the red one._"

"We did…"

"_Well then c'mon, let's hurry_!" The doors opened, and he was set down. The clearer, but still undistinguishable pink and green blurs glided out of the door and into the hanger, turning right, where another door with fuzzy, intolerable light blazed through. He was about to close his eyes, when suddenly a face appeared.

"Sorry Stitch, I'm gonna have to borrow your powers for a little bit longer, ok?" The voice was unconfident, but still strong. "Don't worry, _we'll _fight off the Kinoes, you just keep out of sight. Try to sleep, ok?" He felt his head shift, a scratch between his ears, and then the purple-aqua blot dashed into the distance of the intolerable light.

That was all he needed. The kindling and ash were replaced with hot embers and a blazing fire. A new fuel was being fed, and slowly it was working. His mind was clearing, his thoughts were being expressed with words, and his arms and legs began to respond. At any moment, he would be ready, and when he was, they would all be home free.

_"I don't want you to fight the Kinoes…"_


	16. The Storm on Agubada

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 16: The Storm on Agubada

"Get away from our ship Hamsterveil!" Lilo commanded, stepping into the light of the outer portion of the pillar. Hamsterveil, in his floating pod, and his four remaining Kino's, all turned. They were only a few yards from the vessel, and it would only take one of them to knock it off or destroy it.

"You three think you can boss me around?" He snarled. "You're little 626 could not take on three of my creations all at once, what makes you think you can do anything?"

"We already took down four of your Kino's, rat. All I have to do is sing backward and they're useless." Angel snapped; she was standing a bit back behind Lilo, and slightly off to the girl's left side.

"Ah yes, that is a problem isn't it? I guess I'll just have to deactivate their hearing." In the middle of his sentence he pressed a few buttons on his console. "And now, that problem is solved. Any more bright ideas, 624?" Angel growled.

"Yeah," chimed Phase threateningly, slightly behind and to Lilo's right, "I've got one; four Kino's drifting in the vacuum, I can make that happen in a few seconds." She boasted, hiding her bluff with sincerity. Hamsterveil smiled.

"I'm sorry, but you can't." Phase's teeth gritted. "You probably can't even teleport from level 73 to here; otherwise you would have, and not have taken the elevator. That was a nice try 600, but I'm well aware that the inhibiters have affected you already. Which, by the way, I'm very disappointed; I was hoping that you would let me use that power of yours, I'm sorry to see you betray me like-"

"_Me _betray _you?_" Phase snapped. "You _rat of a-_"

"Phase, calm down." Lilo ordered. Hamsterveil beamed widely. "I don't care what you say; we'll find a way to get rid of your Kino's long before they wreck the ship. You can _count _on it!"

"Is this a challenge from the little earther?" He questioned. Lilo smiled; he wasn't aware of her capabilities yet. "I see. I suppose I'll be somewhat generous and give you the same offer I gave 626. They will not strike until you do." His smile was a confident counter.

"They'd better get ready then." Lilo said, nervously shifting her right foot back behind her left, and raising her arms, bent at the elbows, poised to run. She took in a deep breath, trying to stifle the fear that welled up her. "All right! Here I-" Her stomach lurched and her knees locked in place, causing her to fall forward; a flash of numbness flooded her head, stopping her before she even began. When the numbing dizziness wore off, Angel was helping her to her feet.

"There you _what_?" Angel asked with sarcasm. Lilo stood and rubbed the scrape on her knee. She wondered what had made her stop—it wasn't her own fear, she knew that. It was something—or someone—else.

"Stitch?" Lilo asked, looking toward the hangar.

"Huh?" Angel looked over toward the darkness in the hangar; the light filtered in aslant inside the doorway; the glare made it impossible to see anything inside. Angel glanced back at Lilo, to ask what she was looking at, but the girl's stare was rigid. Angel went back to the darkness, peering closer and lifting a hand to allow her eyes to see what was catching Lilo's attention.

Though her eyes failed her, Angel picked up a sound from inside. A light clicking sound that was evenly paced and light. It drew closer to the light leaning in the doorway, and then stopped. Angel's squint sharpened just enough for her to make out a figure standing in the doorway.

The figure—a shadow with a dark blue hue—stretched taller for a moment, as a second set of arms punched out of its sides, then relaxed. The soft crunch of its popping joints seemed muffled in Angel's ears, and the gleam off of its claws seemed vicious as it stood in the dark patch before the little bit of light.

The figure seemed oddly calm and under control, and yet he also seemed as though he were about to snap at the twitch of an eye. Lilo seemed to grow uneasy; her breath started to fluctuate between quick gasps and slow billows, but not dramatically, just subtly. Angel looked back at Stitch, and wondered what was making Lilo so agitated, but she couldn't figure it out.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She finally asked. Lilo appeared to flinch as though being disturbed from deep concentration. "I'm surprised to see Stitch up and about too, but not _that _surprised." She commented. Lilo replied quickly, and flatly.

"That's not Stitch."

"Not Stitch?" Angel questioned, dropping her ears. "What do you mean?" Lilo's voice gradually moved to an alarmed quiver.

"I'm not sure." She said, shaking her head. "But that's _not _Stitch, somehow."

"Well then who is it?" Angel's head leaned to the side, one eye squinting and the other bulged at Lilo.

"Whoever he is, he wants us to move." Lilo said, grabbing Angel's arm.

"What?"

"_Move!_" Lilo pushed Angel, causing her to side step out of the way. She quarter-turned to see Lilo stepping the opposite direction, and for a fraction of a second, an almost invisible blue smear caught Angel's eyes, and her inertia. Both the girls were blown off-balance by a powerful wind, and staggered to keep their footing.

Angel fell, but only because her eyes were concentrating on following the blue wisp that headed straight for one of the four Kino's. The small dinosaur apparently saw it coming too, as it prepared to attack, but the blue smear was too quick. Flickers of light streaked across the smear in circles as its claws crossed the Kino's body. It jumped up in its process, scoring the metal on the front of the Kino like plastic clay.

The blur was visible once it landed; Stitch was on one knee, his lower arms at his side, their palms on the ground, his upper-left arm rested on the raised knee, and the upper-right was extended out and bent at the elbow, so that its wrist was relaxed near his head, yet poised; claws ready for another strike.

The Kino recovered from the attack, its surface rough and scratched, no longer reflecting the light that peeked in through the clouds. It seemed to search the ground for the attacker, and when it spotted Stitch it immediately ran toward him, swinging an arm down. Angel winced as she heard the shattering, smashing noise, and after a second opened her eyes to look.

The Kino struggled, trying to pull away. Stitch was latched onto its hand, his claws at the end of large holes bored in the metal, and as it struggled, jerking and thrusting away from him, he didn't move a muscle. He let the Kino struggle for a second or two, as if taunting it, and then he took action—vicious action. He twisted the wrist of the Kino and slammed the hand down onto the metal flooring, and like a lead ball the Kino fell with it.

Stitch twisted the wrist a little more, and pulled; with little effort the arm of the Kino snapped cleanly from the socket. Electricity spit onto the ground from the exposed wires in its connective shoulder-socket, and even more spat as Stitch landed on top of the Kino's chest and tore into its sternum, pulling out the wires and snapping them on either end. In less than a minute, the Kino was permanently shut down.

But the fight wasn't over. Two of the three remaining Kino's roared into the fray. Stitch back-flipped from the fallen Kino and took up the dismantled arm. Both Kinoe's came down, and both were blocked with the severed bar of metal and electronics. A second and third attack were blocked, and even more after that.

The arm, nimbly weaving between Stitch's four ambidextrous hands, expertly met with each of both Kinoe's blows. However they were quick tacticians; they began to attack more quickly, and feign a blow every now and again, attempting to be unpredictable. But Stitch was toying with them it seemed, as even when they managed to flank him from both sides, he managed to block them again by snapping the arm in his grasp in two.

The playing was over; Stitch was growing tired. These machines were nothing compared to the original Achie-baba Kino for some reason. He dodged another two blows, landed in between them on his upper palms, and his lower arms spun the two twice-severed metal poles like saws, cutting through the Kinoe's metal shell and tearing the wires inside. More electricity and the Kinoes slumped over, defeated.

Stitch threw one chunk of arm at each Kino, knocking them over. As they fell, the last Kino could be seen standing by the ship. Hamsterveil, situated next to it, was gaping with appall. Stitch cracked his joints again, slowly, confidently, and eyed the Kino next to the rat. The monster seemed confident, but Stitch felt it didn't have a personality, or if it did he disregarded it. He hated them, right from the very beginning. He wanted to know what they were for, he wanted to know _why _Hamsterveil created them, but those wants were stifled as he began to step toward the last Kino that would ever be made.

But a noise distracted him; at first it came from behind, but then above, and then both. He looked upward at the metal disks above his head, to see a dark blur plummeting toward him. Not a second later he found himself in the clutches of another Kino; one that Angel realized she had shut down, but hadn't been destroyed. Instead she left it in the hallway, dormant, leading Lilo toward Stitch. Angel started to run toward them, but Lilo stopped her.

"What are you _doing? _We have to help him!" Angel said, looking back at Lilo while trying to escape from the girl's enhanced grip. Lilo looked back with stern eyes.

"He doesn't want us to interfere; we'll only get in the way."

"How do _you _know?" Angel snapped with desperation.

"Because that's what he's feeling." Lilo replied calmly. "And whatever he feels, I feel." Angel looked back at the Kinoes, Stitch's head protruding between the thumbs of the Kino that held him. He was struggling, screaming, one ear caught with his body in the Kino's grip. Angel closed her eyes, still trying to get away from Lilo, each of Stitch's furious yells making her heart skip a beat. The last sound Angel heard was Hamsterveil's cackle, before another sound slowly gained dominance in her hearing.

She mustered the ability to open her eyes, and search for the body of the sound, and when she did she saw the most curious occurrence: what appeared to be balls of water, nearly two feet in diameter, slammed through the Kinoes, and into the wall behind them. It was numbing, and the tremor that resonated through the pillar was even more numbing. Angel looked out toward the ocean, where she identified the source of the sound: four edifices of swirling water shot up from the mother body.

Another volley of large water balls exploded from the hurricanes, all aimed precisely at the pillar. One made contact with the Kino holding Stitch, and immediately, to Angel's amazement, the Kino melted before her eyes, and Stitch fell to the ground, dazed, but completely fine. What was more amazing, the metal pillar began to melt where the water impacted it as well.

"The water." Lilo muttered, barely above the sound of the hurricanes. "It has so much salt in it the acidity is eating away at anything that's metal." As if to confirm the theory, another ball of water hit the last Kino, taking away everything but its legs, which quickly vanished through disintegration.

Hamsterveil screamed, and ran past Lilo and Angel, who didn't even acknowledge his presence, toward the entrance of the hanger. Phase appeared before him as he came close to the entrance, and he fell over, running into her.

"Where are you going?" The green experiment snapped.

"_Out of here!_" The rat ducked as a ball of water passed over his head. Phase quarter-turned; the water barely missed her nose, and splattered against the back wall with a hiss.

"You're not going-"

"Phase!" Lilo shouted. "Leave him alone, we have to get off this thing _now; _the water is going to eat it and if we don't out of here it'll eat the _ship _too!" Phase glanced down at the rodent in front of her, angry that she was going to miss her opportunity to teach him what happens to a betrayer, like Angel had mercifully taught her. With another tremor of the pillar, she ran past the rat as he ran past her.

She paused for a moment, to watch a ball of water fly up under the metal flooring above her, and smack into it, causing the pillar to tremor again. She continued to stare in a slight awe as it ate away at the metal. However, she would have done wiser to run when she had the chance. The metal ate away in such a fashion, that before she had time to get out of the way, a boulder of metal was headed toward her, picking up speed as it closed the gap, and growing larger in her vision as it neared her petrified body.

She barely had time to gasp, much less react, to the chunk of metal that rapidly fell down on her. The backs of her knees tensed, and when she tried to get out of the way she fell onto her back. The metal ball quickly took up her vision, and instinctively she held out her hands to attempt to stop it, even though she knew it was too heavy for her to hold up, especially at its momentum.

However, just as her fingertips touched the surface, it jerked, and for moment she winced. In the middle of that moment, she realized that the chunk was somehow not falling; something was stopping it just inches away from her palms. Breathless, she glanced to the side, barely able to move her head, and saw what had stopped the falling chunk; Angel's legs, the right down on its knee, and hands trembled underneath the metal boulder.


	17. The Fall

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 17: The Fall

"Phase…_move!_" Angel said through strenuous grunts, the tremble in her arms and legs exponentially more pronounced as the seconds passed. Phase pushed her hands against the chunk, intent on taking Angel's suggestion, but the boulder slipped—Angel was losing control—and in a sudden twitch of time Phase found herself immobile under the heavy metal scrap, its bulk now pressing against her stomach, its weight slowly being expressed to her.

"Angel…I can't, it's too heavy!" She yelled, gasping for the breath that was being pushed out of her lungs by the chunk. It slipped again, and Phase heard the most struggling scream come from her left, and the boulder lurched downward again, and quickly back up.

"Got it," Lilo's voice. Phase couldn't turn her head, but it came from her right and maybe a bit to her back. The boulder lifted slightly; its flat, threatening surface moving away from Phase's eye. Phase's arms began to ache, and soon even Lilo was letting out strenuous groans. "This…thing…is…_huge!_"

Phase heard a click come from her feet; she glanced down to see Stitch's legs and hands join the others'. Slowly the chunk lifted up, but quickly they're energy was draining. Phase's arms felt like jelly, and they lost even more of their feeling when they began to shudder and tremble like a stressed, stiff board.

"What is this thing _made _of?" Stitch screamed. The chunk lowered.

"It's too heavy! It weighs a billion tons!" Lilo's hands fought to get a better grip on the underside of the boulder. Phase's temples began to throb, adrenaline taking over fear, and she struggled, trying to put her legs into play to help lift up, but they couldn't move. "I can't hold it anymore!"

"Me neither!" Stitch and Lilo struggled, but their grip was lost. Phase's heart skipped a beat, and a bead of sweat trickled down her scalp as she felt the boulder press down. A scream; the most aggravated, furious, painfully determined scream Phase had ever heard, and it came from Angel. Just as quickly as the boulder seemed to fall down, it was lifted up. Light came to Phase's eyes where the dark shadow of the chunk's underbelly had been for only a few minutes, and the first thing Phase saw was the expression on both Lilo and Stitch's faces.

She rolled away, gasping for breath, and looked into the direction the other two were looking; her eyes widened as well. Angel, with a face to match the scream she had just roared, lifted the boulder above her head with her arms straight and her elbows locked. Another yell of fury escaped her, and she turned, throwing the boulder in the opposite direction. It made a noise no louder than a single clap as it cut through the metal flooring like a hot a knife through butter.

"Angel…are you ok?" Phase asked. Angel turned taking a couple steps to Phase, and extended her hand. Phase took it, and after she was pulled to her feet, Angel fell past her to the ground, exhausted. "Angel!"

"Don't worry." Stitch said, getting to his feet. "I think she's just tired."

"Are you sure she's not…hurt?" Lilo asked. Stitch picked her up and rested her on his shoulder.

"She'll feel a little loose when she wakes up, but I think she's fine." Another volley of water screamed for attention. "C'mon, let's get outta here!" Stitch yelled, running toward the ship. Lilo and Phase immediately followed, but just as they all came within seven yards, the ground seemed to lurch and give way a tiny bit.

"Whoa!" Lilo uttered, jumping back. She glanced at the ground; a crescent-shaped crack snaked its way across the flooring, starting at the edge of the disk somewhere to the left of the ship, and ending somewhere else she couldn't see. "I think we're in trouble…"

"No, we're too heavy." Stitch said.

"What do you mean?" Phase asked.

"Look," he pointed to the crack, "that divided the disk. Our ship is on a part of the disk that's barely connected to the body. It doesn't have that much support, and if too much weight goes on it'll break off and fall."

"As easily as a cookie." Lilo commented. Stitch nodded, and seemed to take only a moment to think.

"Here." He said to Lilo, sliding Angel off his shoulder. "Take her." Lilo caught her and held her upright by the armpits.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to make sure that 'cookie-piece' breaks off." He told her.

"You're gonna try to get to the ship?" Asked Phase.

"Yeah, and after I get it flying, I'll swing by and you guys will jump in, and we'll make a break for it through hyperspace."

"But we're too close to the planet to use hyperspace! And _besides_, what if _you _don't make it into the ship?" Phase protested.

"Then find another ride." He said flatly, jumping onto the weak section of the disk. Immediately the "cookie-piece" crumbled from the body, and both Stitch and the ship began to tumble toward the ocean down below.

"Get up you good-for-nothing pile of blubber!" Hamsterveil commanded, kicking Gantu's head, jarring him awake.

"Huh-wha-?"

"No time! Get _up! _We have to get _out _of here!" Yelled the gerbil in a panic.

"What's going on?" Gantu questioned, hastily getting to his feet and running down the hallway, crouching so he didn't hit the ceiling. "Why do we have to-" The pillar shook, Gantu let out a yell of pain as his head bashed against the ceiling.

"_That's _why! Something's disturbed this planet's weather pattern or something; the water is _attacking _us, and its eating away at the pillar! If we don't get out now we're going to drown!"

"Whale's can swim." Gantu joked.

"Don't you try turning your ugly face into something good _now!_" Hamsterveil snapped, leading the way to the escape ship.

"Cowabunga!" Stitch yelled into the odd silence as he felt the flooring fall under his feet. A rush of wind immediately tugged around him. His insides felt like they were being pulled upward and very soon he felt the affects of the fall on his coordination. He set the distracting rush aside, and concentrated on the ship below him.

It staggered in the wind as it fell, flipping violently every so often. He slimmed and flattened himself against the wind as he saw fit, trying to aim it so that he would land on the top of the ship. After seconds of quick adjustments and decisions, he was finally sure he could make it. His arms at his sides, his legs pointed back, he fell fast; in even fewer seconds he reached out and latched onto the top of the ship.

In reaction, the ship was disturbed, and it lurched violently, barrel-rolling. Stitch was forced to let go, and he fell ahead of the ship for some distance. He reoriented himself, his eyes now felt like they were about to fly out of his skull, and flattened out, his fur fluffing with a loud sound. The ship turned briskly against the cloudy sky, the wing causing a shadow to brush past his nose. It turned too far; he couldn't make it, he had to wait for it to turn again.

Slimming his arms and legs he dove backward, looking up at the ship, watching it as it completed its turn. For a moment, to give his mind a break, Stitch wondered if this was what swimming was like; voluntarily controlling the speed at which you can sink by flattening or slimming your arms and legs, rather than being forced to sink.

The ship began to turn again, its underbelly a waning gibbous. Stitch flattened, the speed of his fall instantly decreasing. The distance between he and ship began to close, it was already halfway done; he could make it. As if to guarantee his success, the ship stopped turning, its top openly inviting him to land on it.

His claws latched on to the right of the cockpit, the ship rocked but nothing dramatic occurred. Stitch expelled his breath and opened the hatch, climbing into the ship upside-down. It took him a few moments to strap himself in, but he was able to do it without any difficulties. He glanced down at the ocean as he closed the cockpit hatch, and was suddenly aware of how close he was to the bottom.

"Shaza!" He muttered, slamming the hatch shut and turning the key inside the ignition. The ship shuddered, but didn't start. "Cabasha! Caba_sha!_" He turned it twice more, and then a third. He slammed his hand against the panel and leaned underneath, ripping out the wires and hooking them together.

His lips twitched as the electricity rippled through his body—a small price to pay to start the ship. The engine roared to life, and he took hold of the yoke, yanking it back. The ship looped, the nose barely scraping the edge of the waterline. The body floated atop the ocean as Stitch held it level, again letting out a pocket of breath.

"Maybe Stitch should try out for movie!" He said to himself, as he pulled up on the yoke. He looked to his left, out toward the horizon. The hurricanes that had been present were now gone. Stitch was beginning to get a bad feeling for some reason. Uneasily he looked out of the cockpit, trying to see what he could. To his right, the pillar seemed sound and standing tall, the disks passing him in a blur. But something still tugged at him. Somehow he felt those hurricanes weren't natural, and that they also weren't gone because whatever threat there was, was over.

Suddenly, the ship lurched, and forced a left turn. Stitch struggled to maintain control, while also trying to determine what hit him. He looked at the status; the rear had been impacted. He glanced behind him, and immediately thrust the yoke away from the pillar. A split-second after his maneuver, a wall of water shot forth from the ocean, blocking him from the pillar—from Lilo, Angel and Phase.


	18. Fate of the Traitor II

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 18: Fate of the Traitor (II)

Stitch balanced the ship, fighting a sudden, drastic turbulence that came along with the fountain of water surrounding the pillar. He swung around, but kept his distance; the pillar was in a complete shield, and if he got too close the ship would be slowly eaten away by the salt in the water. He had to think—somehow he had to get them out of there without touching the water. He veered away, and looped around again, pondering desperately for a strategy.

"What the _heck _is wrong with this place?" Phase shouted over the overwhelming noise of spraying water. They had been watching Stitch and his incredible ship-boarding technique, losing him as he went underneath but generally getting the idea of how he got in. But that show was abruptly cancelled as soon as they saw the water rising from the ocean.

"Ocean Shores ain't got nothin' on this!" Lilo shouted, backing away deeper into the sanctity of the disk. Water was beginning to spray on them, soaking them, but more importantly eating away at the metal that held them up.

"If we don't do something this thing will fall and take us with it!" Phase roared, fighting a sudden increase in the water's fierce screaming.

"But we can't do anything!" Lilo exclaimed, throwing her free arm up in the air. She abruptly aborted her gesture as the pillar rippled, shaking them off-balance. "If Stitch gets too close to the water the ship will get eaten up!"

"What do you suppose we do then?" Phase questioned.

"I don't know; you got any bright ideas?" She asked, readjusting Angel on her shoulder.

"…As a matter of fact…" Phase looked toward the wall of water that continuously shot upward from what she could tell. She tried to peer through it, but it was too opaque for her to see anything beyond it. "Can you try to find the ship, Lilo?" She asked.

Stitch pulled up on the yoke, fighting another blast of wind that came from the spring. He also altered his course to fly upward, as he estimated where the others were located. He tried to see through the foam and gloss, but he couldn't. And having Agubada's sun reflect off the water's surface didn't help much either.

_"This is no natural occurrence." _He thought. _"And plus, the weather reports of this planet never mentioned any hurricanes at all. I don't think this planet can produce hurricanes on its own."_

"There!" Lilo pointed, peering through the water, cascading upward. Although she was only half sure, the other side of her--the Stitch side--reassured her that it was a ship, instead of just an illusion.

"Good. Is he still there?" Phase asked.

"No." Lilo said, looking back toward her. "He's still going up."

"...Maybe he sees something we don't. Do you think the water is stopping at some point? Maybe gravity's kicking in somewhere up there." The structure shuddered again, sending Phase to her knees and made Lilo struggle to keep Angel balanced on her shoulder.

"I don't know but I don't think we should stay here to find out!" Lilo shouted, as the water began to eat away at the edge of the metal in front of them.

"Back inside, to the elevator!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Lilo shouted after, her voice echoing off the walls inside. Their noises were hushed due to the acoustic noise of rushing water. It overwhelmed everything but the creaking of metal every time the structure seemed to lurch. "This thing's not gonna hold!" Lilo shouted, but she wasn't sure if _she_ could even hear what she was saying. A few moments later, the elevator was in sight, and in tact. Phase had already punched the button when Lilo turned the corner, and once the doors opened, both girls jumped in, eager to get it going, as if that would somehow stop all the chaotic noises outside--strangely, it sort of did.

"We made it." Phase said rhetorically, over heaves of air.

"Yeah." Lilo replied, setting Angel down and walking to the panel. "Let's go all the way to the top, just in case. I don't want to have to make _that_ run again." Phase smiled and nodded, sitting down. Lilo sat down as well when she returned; now would be a time for them to relax. The rushing sound of water could still be heard outside, but it wasn't as dramatic; it was almost soothing. Lilo closed her eyes, relaxing, though a slight dread of the elevator stopping on the top floor was present, it would happen at any moment, and right now Lilo just wanted to rest for as long as possible. However, that stop never came, not at the top floor at least.

Their respite was interrupted, grousemly, as the elevator gave a violent lurch and began to churn. Both girls were already hugging the ground, and Angel was helped by Phase, who was closer to her than Lilo. All at once the elevator stopped, and the girls' heads came up to look around. Their center of gravity felt tilted, and the elevator was stuck between the 97th and 98th levels--level 100 was considered the "last" on the elevator.

"Is Angel ok?"

"Yeah. And _I'm _fine too." Phase mocked a snarl. "You?"

"I'm-" Lilo stopped her speech as the elevator groaned all around them. Hearts pounded and moved their way to throats, and a terrible fear flooded the girls as they felt their insides mash against their shoulders and heads. Lilo screamed, and Phase wanted to, but she was too busy keeping Angel steady. The elevator was already well on its way into a fall, catching onto the side of the tunnel every once in a while, giving its passengers a shattering tremor.

"Lilo!" Phase shouted. "Lilo calm down!" Angel's body fell onto her on another shudder, and she struggled to keep it off. "Lilo, listen to me for a second, if you stop panicking you can get us out of here!"

"Can't you just teleport us out?"

"I could," she admitted, "but then we might not be able to get off this thing later. We need you to get us out, understand?" The box shuddered again.

"All right, all right, what do I do?" Phase grunted, moving Angel's unconscious body again.

"I don't know...what would _Stitch _do?" She asked. Lilo blinked and lifted her head.

_"You're right...what _would _he do?" _Another shudder; Phase struggled to keep Angel off of her, and glanced at Lilo again.

"Well, any ideas?" Lilo smiled.

"Keep Angel safe."

"Tell that to her!" Phase moaned, as Angel's weight made her bang her head against the slanted side of the elevator. Lilo stood up, her legs fighting for balance. Once the box stopped shaking, she jumped up onto the ceiling, using Stitch's ability to adhere to the metal. Phase looked up as she heard the sound of contact. She was aware that the girl possessed some of Stitch powers, but how much power she had and what she was going to do with it was unknown to her.

She watched as Lilo's fist reared back, and paused; she was hesitating. Phase kept Angel's body still during the next shudder and watched as Lilo lost her hesitation, and with a yell, thrust her fist into the metal, tearing it as easily as--or perhaps more easily than--the boulder had torn the floor. But Lilo wasn't done; she thrust her hands into the small hole and with another roar, ripped the seam apart, like plastic, and then looked down at Phase, who was gaping at her.

"C'mon." Lilo said as she hung from the ceiling by her feet, her arms outstretched. Phase lifted Angel up, and Lilo took her with one hand, and ushered Phase to grab the other. Hesitantly, Phase did, and felt Lilo swing her around. Reflexively she clung to the girl's back, and grabbed Angel when she was secured. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Phase was dumbfounded as Lilo turned, kneeled, grabbed onto the lip of the hole she had made, and slipped through, defying gravity as though the hole were made in the floor instead. In mid-air, Phase felt a lurch in Lilo, as she rebounded from the roof of the elevator, and almost magnetically latched onto the wall, her back jerking against the falling force. Without a moment's rest, Lilo began to climb, with Phase and Angel hanging on her back. As they passed the 90th floor, they heard a crash. The elevator hit rock bottom.

_"The water isn't dying down at all...it just keeps flowing." _Stitch thought, as he turned the ship again. _"It's all around the structure now, what's causing it?" _He pulled up, gaining some height as did. He glanced back toward the structure to see three figures emerging from the docking bay.

"Lilo! Phase! Angel!" He said with relief, opening the cockpit hatch and flying closer to the structure. They were apparently shouting as well, gleefully from what he could tell. He slowed the ship down, preparing for a landing, when suddenly the water quickly shot up three levels, blocking his from entering. "Naga!" He yelled with frustration, slamming the dashboard. He grabbed the yoke and turned the ship around, keeping close. _"I can't leave...and we're stuck again...what do I _do?_"_

"What do we do _now?_" Lilo asked with frustration, as she saw the water jump higher, blocking their only means of escape.

"I was afraid this would happen..." Phase said, shaking her head. "This isn't a normal water-disaster, it seems like. But don't worry, I have an idea."

"What is it?" Lilo snapped, desperate for anything.

"Calm down, don't get snappy on me."

"Sorry...I'm just..."

"I understand. My idea is simple, as long as you can jump. How far can you jump?"

"How far...? I don't know..."

"Well, the farther the better. All you have to do is get a good jump in; I can take care of the rest."

"You're going to teleport us? Are you sure you can do it?"

"I'm sure, trust me. Just don't let go of me or Angel, you'll have to hold her while I concentrate ok?"

"Sure." Lilo took Angel and strung her over her shoulder. Phase hopped up on Lilo's back, and supported herself. "Ready?"

"_Go!_" Lilo immediately took to a run, the features of the ground a blur in her vision, until she came to the very edge of the metal disk. The water was slightly farther out it seemed, as when Lilo gave it her all in a long jump, she didn't feel anything but a slight mist after she left the structure. Phase's heart pounded; the world around them seemed to slow down, the water's flow nearly stopped, and they were almost frozen in mid-air. Phase closed her eyes, concentrating, but after a moment, opened them, and dawned a look of worriment.

The beating in her heart thundered as dread took her over, but quickly the dread was silenced. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself, and then extended her lower-left arm. She glanced down as her hand unfolded to reveal a small CD. Her arm shrank back into her side as she took it with her upper hand, and looked around. She spotted Lilo's pocket, and slipped the CD inside, her heart beginning to race again. She took another few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She wished she hadn't lied.

"Say 'hi' to Angel for me when she wakes up." Phase said. Lilo started to look back, but she was already gone. Phase felt the mass underneath her disappear, and slowly the world around her returned to normal. Phase smiled as she felt her speed increase. She opened her eyes, watching as the wall of water came closer and closer, and faster. Her eyes burned as she hit it, the salt stinging her skin. But she didn't care. The water seemed to slow her down, and it made her sleepy. But before her vision faded to black, she felt her speed abruptly stop. What felt like arms seemed to catch her, and for a moment she thought she heard a voice.

"Gotcha!"

"Stitch, go!" Lilo shouted, as soon as Lilo felt the floor of the ship. Stitch looked back, saw them, and immediately gunned the throttle. Lilo panted hard, her blood boiling and surging through her veins. "We made it!" She said with a laugh, rolling back and closing her eyes. "Nice job Phase." She complimented. But when she didn't receive a reply, she began to grow concerned. "...Phase?" She said with alarm, looking over the back of the ship. "_Phase?_" Lilo looked back and forth, but the only other person she saw was Angel. "Stitch, where's Phase?" Stitch looked back.

"I...I don't know." He said, looking over the ship, the clouds of the Agubada sky taking up the window. "Lilo?" He asked rhetorically, observing the look on the girl's face. With a clutter, Lilo scrambled to her feet, and rushed to the oyster-shaped computer, flipping it up aggressively and smashing in the command to do a universal scan for experiment 6-0-0. She panted heavily, wishfully, as the scan commenced, and after five agonizing minutes, two horrifying words flashed across the screen.

"Location Unknown."

"...This...can't be...did she-?" Lilo looked back at Angel, hoping Phase would somehow be there. "Is that what she meant by...?"

"Lilo, let me see the computer." Stitch said.

"You know how to find her?" Lilo asked quickly, handing him the console.

"No...but it'll tell us if she's ok or not." He replied. Somehow, by what means Lilo didn't know, he _calmly_ typed the keys, and glanced at the monitor as it flickered with blue lighting. "She's ok." He told Lilo, turning the computer.

Lilo observed it; it was a status report on Phase, some sort of monitoring system. There were green dots next to words such as "pulse", "oxygen levels", and "functioning levels". But next to "current condition", in purple text, there read "Unconscious".

"What do we do? She's ok...but we can't find her...can we go back? Maybe we can find her if we go back!" Lilo said excitedly, her hopes rising.

"Lilo, I would have turned around already if I could." Stitch replied logically, crashing Lilo's cheer. "The acidity levels on that planet are too high; even the clouds will eat this ship up if we pass through them now. I'm sorry...but we can't go back."


	19. Quiet Trip Home

Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 19: Quiet Trip Home

Darkness filled darkness as Phase opened her eyes. At first she was numb; she gave no reaction of curiosity, fear, tension, anything. She stared blankly, for a moment not sure what was going on, not sure what had happened. Then it hit her, all at once, and she began to panic. Where was she? Why was it so dark? And what was surrounding her? She stood up, and held her hands against what felt like some type of wall. It was lax in structure, flexible. She pushed against it lightly, then after a pause she pressed against it harder, pushing the wall outward.

"_What are you trying to do, pop me_?" Phase let out a small shriek and fell backward, bouncing lightly against the surface underneath her, made of the exact same material as the wall. "_Stop moving, I'll pop, and you'll be gone._" The voice came again, almost threateningly, but more with a friendly tone.

"_Who-who's there?_" Phase asked, beginning to panic. She couldn't see, but someone was there. _Where? _She began to breathe quickly, backing up, up against the material. It curved upward, she felt above her; she was in some type of sphere.

"_Stop breathing so quickly, I can't get you oxygen that fast. Slow down, relax. _Relax!" Phase heeded the commanding voice, her breath caught in her throat and the tempest in her heart slowly stopped thundering. She felt dizzy, light-headed, and sleepy. "_I told you I couldn't get you oxygen that fast._"

"_Where am I_?" Phase asked, a creeping grogginess slowly enveloping her.

"_We're in the vacuum, coming close to a star system._"

"_What happened...how did I get here_?"

"_Stop asking questions, breathe slowly._"

"_Just one more...who are you_?" Phase's eyes closed and she did as the voice commanded. The voice then spoke, breaking her ever-ascending sleep for just a moment.

"_My number is 599, but I also have a name: Zeus._"

_"Zeus..." _The name echoed in Phase's mind a few times, just before her body felt numb again.

Stitch's eyes began to droop as he turned off the glow from the dashboard display. The light of the near star-system was the perfect somnolent glow, alluring him to slumber even though he couldn't. But the necessity for rest was overtaking him--overtook him--and soon he was almost asleep, when he felt a hand fall upon his shoulder. He let out a small gasp as the hand left his shoulder, and a person sat in the co-pilot seat beside him.

"Getting sleepy?" Came Angel's voice. She spoke softly, idly looking back at the sleeping Lilo behind her.

"Just a little. How are you? Finally up. Feel ok?"

"A little limber," she replied, moving her arms to demonstrate the effect of overstraining her muscles, "but I'm getting there." Stitch smiled.

"I'll bet you're limber. Neither Lilo nor I could lift that. Whatever gave you that strength better not be around when I'm wrestling you, that's all I'm gonna say." Angel let out a stifled giggle. Stitch laughed in response, but Angel heard him hiss and wince. She glanced at him, making him out in the dim light, and saw his hand clutching his side. He removed it. Angel drew in a gasp.

"Stitch!" She said, gaping at a fairly large wound near his stomach.

"I'm ok, I'm ok. It's nothing."

"That's a big painful-looking nothing," Angel said with disbelief, reaching up above her head to the first-aid compartment, "when did you _get _that?" Stitch winced again as she dabbed him, the sting causing more pain.

"I think in the beginning, one of the Kino's must've cut me a bit." He said through gritted teeth as she applied a more soothing, thicker liquid.. "I guess I just...moved around too much." He finished, as the pasty liquid began to stiffen and soften, taking on the attribute of skin; the perfect bandage for a deep wound.

"You'll be fine. Jumba can probably do a better job when we get home." Angel said, staring at him while she glanced out the window. "Hey...why _aren't _we home? Shouldn't we be there already?" Stitch pointed at the dashboard. Angel looked at a glowing light that was the ship's status report. She touched it once, and the ship's schematics showed up in a three-dimensional image, a red light appearing near aft, and forward just a little toward the nose of the ship.

"Hyperdrive-Engine Malfunction." Read the blinking status report, along with other miscellaneous messages that didn't matter much, unless they got into combat.

"We're taking the scenic route then?" Stitch nodded. "How long have we been on it so far?"

"Three hours, give or take, and we have another four or five to go."

"Well, it'll be fast for those two." Angel said, pointing back behind her. She tilted her ears at the strange look Stitch gave her. "What?"

"Angel..." Stitch paused, looking out into the vast vacuum of space. "Phase didn't make it." Deep black, bulging eyes stared back at Stitch, and twirled around to stare at the back of the cockpit. Sure enough, Phase was absent.

"Where is she? What happened? I mean, I remember something about teleporting onto the ship, and then I thought..." Angel trailed, looking down at the fading glow of the dashboard.

"She's all right." Stitch said, trying to cheer her up. "We just don't know where she is. I've been monitoring her on Jumba's computer; so far she woke up once about an hour ago, now it says she's only 'asleep'." He brought up the status of Phase for Angel to see.

"We're going to find her...right?"

"We're going to see what Jumba can do. Until then...try not to worry about it. She's fine, wherever she is." Angel smiled, satisfied with the situation's outlook. There was a pause, until Angel's smile crept up in the corners.

"You know she liked you." She said with a sly grin.

"I know." Stitch replied curtly.

"Well...did you like her?"

"...Is that a trick question?"

"Of course not, I just want to pass the time, that's all. Did you like her?"

"Well...no..."

"So you _didn't _like her?"

"I guess not. I mean I like you bet-"

"So then what, did you _hate _her?"

"No! Of course not-!"

"Then you liked her?"

"Well I...wait a minute, _what do you mean by 'like'?_"

"Would you _stop _shouting? Lilo's sleeping!" Angel hissed. Stitch stared back at her, a look of confusion and uncertainty on his face. She couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Oh come on, Angel. I go out of my way and rescue you, and this is how you repay me?" He said mockingly.

"I'm sorry. You just looked so stressed, and that's the only way I know to get you to relax." Stitch billowed out a large inhale. "Ok, I understand, no teasing you." She said with disappointment. He smiled, nodding his head, and returned to stare outside into the vacuum of space. Angel gazed at his eyes; she noticed that even the dim glow of the star-system, which was probably billions of miles away, reflected off his eyes, whereas some time ago, not even sunlight would dare to take on such a feat. "I wonder why that is..." She mumbled aloud.

"Why what is?" Stitch asked, his eyes returning to her.

"Oh, it's nothing just...you're eyes."

"What about my eyes, do they look different?"

"Well, yeah," she replied, "but...well, it's hard to explain."

"Couldn't take four hours to explain it." Stitch said, ushering her to tell him.

"I don't know how to say it, just...now you're eyes are reflective but earlier...they weren't."

"...What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"Well, it's a long story, but to make it simple..." Angel proceeded to explain the incident toward the end of their endeavor, when Stitch had been hit hard, and the three of them--Lilo, Phase and herself--had to take on the rest of the Kinoes. She went on to describe the portion after they arrived at their ship with great detail, without understanding much of it herself. "The next thing I knew, she was getting me out of your way, and after that you turned into some kind of fighting genius; every move you made was perfect."

"Not me?" Stitch questioned, as if lingering on that one portion of the story.

"That's what she said...I still don't understand what she meant. Do you?"

"...No. I don't remember anything that you just described. The next thing I knew, I was helping you and Lilo get Phase out of a tight situation."

"Really? Well then...we'll just have to ask her. I mean, at first I thought she was playing around or something but the look on her face was just--what?" Angel heard Stitch let out a small gasp. At first she thought he'd found another wound, and turned on the light seconds after the noise, but all too immediately she found what he was gasping at. Angel had turned just in the nick of time to see Lilo give Stitch a small kiss on the cheek.

"Whoops..." Angel said awkwardly. Lilo's brown eyes glanced over with a smile.

"Sorry Angel." She apologized. "Guess I should've asked first." Angel stared back, blinking. She wanted to turn away but now that Lilo had seen her staring there wouldn't be much of a point.

"You don't have to ask..." She said, trying to hide her embarrassment with a hearty laugh. "I mean...after all..." She trailed, not even sure what to say. Quickly she flipped off the light and cleared her throat, thankful that it would a moment before the girl's eyes would adjust to the change in lighting.

"I wasn't much of a help was I?" Came Lilo's voice again, somewhat sleepily. The question was aimed at Stitch.

"No..." He said with a gulp. "You were a great help...I couldn't have done it without you..."

"Yeah you could've, if you had all your powers." Stitch felt her arms reach around him, her right matching his. Her left took his by the wrist, and her right crossed in front of him, and gently laid across his left palm. Angel backed away slightly, as the cockpit was suddenly awash with a jaded light that lasted no more than a few seconds. Again the ship was dark, and again Angel was thankful for the darkness. "There...I don't need them anymore." Lilo said with a pause. "I'm pooped. Gonna go back to bed, ok?"

"Oketaka." Stitch replied.

"G'night Angel."

"E-enchujae." Angel bid, swallowing mid-speak. Silence overtook the ship for quite a while, as Angel waited until Lilo was asleep before she spoke again, or until Stitch spoke, whichever came first. "_I think...you should get some sleep too, boochie-boo._" She suggested with a soft voice.

"Naga, Stitch fine." He replied in the same tone.

"_I don't doubt your health, but you've done so much. I'll take over until we get home, you get some rest._"

"Naga, Angel sleep."

"_Stitch I couldn't; I just woke up. Now c'mon, go to sleep, you were practically there when I came up behind you anyway._"

"Naga, miga chobeeshta."

"_Stitch,_" Angel said, a hint of irritation in her voice, "_go to sleep._" There was silence--disobedient silence. "_We can do this the easy way or the hard way; either, you're going to sleep. Which'll it be_?" There was another prolonged silence, and just before Angel repeated herself again, Stitch quickly snapped out:

"Angel sleep." He heard Angel breathe in, and billow out a sigh, followed by the sound of cracking knuckles.

"_All right then, you called it._" She said. Stitch smiled coyly as she stood up and neared him, glancing over once to see a frown on her face. But when he felt her cold palm fall on his shoulder, and squeeze with an iron grip, he began to sweat. He dared not, but glanced over again to see Angel rearing back, for a punch for all he could tell. He winced, closing his eyes, wondering what the heck Angel was going to do. He felt a rush of wind up against his face; she was breathing down his neck. His eyes scrunched down tighter, a slight fear taking him over as Angel's lips moved to his ear, and her other hand came up behind his neck.

"Acuto chuto, egata nomuta." Stitch's eyes bulged open, his vision blurring. "Naga-toe nala," his eyes grew heavy, his head tilted forward, her hand massaging his neck, "esuto taduho." Finally the somnolent mists claimed him, and he was fast asleep only a second after she stopped. She smiled, gazing at his sleeping face. "_Don't say I didn't warn you._" She told him in a whisper, leaning down to kiss him, carefully making sure to miss Lilo's spot. She then stood and lifted him out of the chair. With her arms under his knees and back, she carried him to the rear of the cockpit, and set him down on the floor of the ship, below where Lilo slept across the seat.

She sat on the floor and watched them for a moment, stifling a laugh as the sleeping Lilo's hand began to pester the sleeping Stitch's ear. It was even harder to stifle her outbursts when Stitch retaliated by trying to grasp her hair. She stood up again, and made her way to the captain's seat, dimming the dashboard as she took her position, staring out into the cold vacuum, pushing back the thought of Phase in her mind. Right now, she wanted to think peacefully. She stared back at the two sleeping, and smiled again. Lilo's arm lay limp on Stitch's stomach, her hair in his mouth.

"_Even in their sleep,_" she said with a chuckle, "_they act more like brother and sister, than friends._"

**Atitchura**

**(The End)**

New series coming soon


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